After a four-year hiatus, the international literary festival "Frontera" will return to Lutsk. The fourth edition of the festival is scheduled for July 27-28 at the museum space "Okolny Zamok," which has been operating in the city since the summer of 2023. This year, the organizers have focused the theme on literary changes influenced by the full-scale war, with participation from Ukrainian and foreign writers and literary scholars.
The theme of "Frontera" resonates as "Changing Roles." According to the organizers, during the festival events they will discuss Ukrainian writers and journalists who have joined the Armed Forces or become volunteers, contemporary Ukrainian literature and "documenting reality," poetry and language that are "changing under the influence of military actions," and the role of books in resisting tyranny and the importance of cultural diplomacy.
"This year's festival is not just about the individual roles of literature and culture, artists and consumers, but also about the moment of reorientation itself—how not to lose direction, remember and preserve memory for the future. It's about exploring boundaries, community, writing and reading during wartime," explains the festival's program manager, Mykita Moskaliuk.
Alongside discussions with Ukrainian and foreign writers and book discussions, the festival program also includes public interviews, a performance by the theater project "DAH" DakhTrio, stand-up comedy by co-host of the podcast "Zapakh Slova" Serhii Chyrkov, a performance by the creative association Phill it, and a literary show.
Another goal of the festival is charity. "Frontera," in collaboration with the charitable foundation "Angar.Ukraine" and local businesses, will present merchandise and exclusive goods at the festival, with all proceeds from sales going towards a 15-million fundraising effort for EW systems and drones for the Armed Forces.
Tickets for "Frontera" can be purchased via the following link.
Among the Ukrainian authors participating in "Frontera" are Yuriy Izdryk, Maks Kidruk, Ostap Slyvynskyi, Yulia Fedorchuk, Rostyslav Semkiv, Irena Karpa, Yevheniya Kuznetsova, Dmytro Lazutkin, and Marichka Paplauskaite.
From international guests: Ryszard Kupiłura (Poland), Fabrice Deprez (France), Ana Francisca (Portugal), Małgorzata Rejmer (Poland), Guillem Colom Piella (Spain), and Maria Senovilla (Spain).
"Foreign participants and journalists who come to the festival are the people who will tell our story abroad. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the festival is to show Europeans how culture works in Ukraine during the war," adds Ella Yatsuta, founder of "Frontera."
All events of the festival will take place at the museum space "Okolny Zamok," which opened in July 2023 based on the restored historical landmarks of Lutsk: the Tower of the Chortoryisky Princes with its 15th-century defensive wall and the Jesuit Monastery with its underground passages.
"Okolny Zamok" hosts scientific and educational events, conferences, exhibitions, festivals, as well as presentations and volunteer projects. During "Frontera," the location will also feature a bookstore and a thematic charity fair.
