As the Ukrainian army continues to defend every piece of Ukrainian land, every civilian and the very spirit of freedom and democracy in the world, the Ukrainian and world publishing communities stand up for our values ​​here at the London Book Fair from 5 to 7 April.

This year Ukraine is represented at the fair by a national stand, which has a focus on popular science literature. The aim is to present those publications that would help to understand Ukraine, its ancient and modern history and culture, as well as the causes of the current war.

After eight years of military aggression against Ukraine (occupied Donbas and occupied Crimean peninsula), Russia has launched an unprecedented full-scale war against our country. On February 24, 2022, the armed forces of the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine.

The Russians destroyed a huge amount of civilian infrastructure, including kindergartens, hospitals, libraries and cultural facilities. More than three million people have become refugees and have taken refuge in other countries.

The Russian invasion was the largest and even more deadly than any other conflict in Europe since World War II. United by courage and determination, Ukrainians fight the aggressor on all fronts.

We are very grateful to you for your invaluable support in recent months. You have done a lot to tell the world about Ukraine and the criminal war that Russia has waged against us. We really appreciate you being around. But we are very sorry that we knew so little before that you knew so little about our culture and history during the last 30 years of our independence.

We have always been part of Europe and European culture. In addition to who we are today and what we are doing today, it is crucial for us that you know about our foundations, what shaped us, what our country was built on.

You can also look at the Ukrainian stand of the history of those representatives of the literary and publishing community who are now at the forefront or thinking about their experience of temporary relocation.

All dimensions - military, political, humanitarian, and cultural - are equally important in this war. Culture is never neutral, it is always relevant to politics as much as it is relevant.

Unfortunately, representatives of all publishers whose books are presented at the stand will not be physically present. At the stand you will be able to get acquainted with the books of Ukrainian publishers: "Black Mountain", "Critique", "Vivat", "Jacob", "Comoros", "Spirit and Letter", "Tempora", "Ukrainian", "Portal", " Hedgehog Culture "," Artbook "," Vikhola "," Old Lion Publishing House "," Knigolav "," Rodovid ", and our foreign partners - The Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University (HURI), Academic Studies Press.

Organizers: Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Ukrainian Book Institute, Ukrainian Institute, Ukrainian PEN, Book Arsenal, BookForum.

Ukraine's participation in the London Book Fair was made possible by a partnership with the British Council Ukraine in the framework of the Great Britain / Ukraine 2022 Culture Season.

With the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

During the fair all its visitors will be able to:

• take photos / videos on the Ukrainian stand and publish them on the personal and official pages of their organizations on social networks to condemn Russian aggression and support Ukraine using the hashtags #StandWithUkraine, #StopRussianAggression
• learn how to participate in the programmes of the Ukrainian Book Institute for Translators (Translate Ukraine 2021 translation support program and translation award based on AI, PEN and PEC Drahomán Prize)
• take into account the catalogs of the rights of Ukrainian publishers (project "Literature for export")
• transfer assistance for printing books for children of Ukrainian refugees: https://gogetfunding.com/crowdfunding-campaign-to-support-printing-of-ukrainian-childrens-books/

Outside the fair, all visitors can

• to support Ukraine - https://help.gov.ua

• To support the boycott of Russian cultural activities: to suspend all projects with Russian organizations or individuals and not to cooperate with Russian culture or education. You can use the hashtags #BoycottRussia, #StandWithUkraine, #StopRussianAggression to announce your decision publicly and make an official statement.

• transfer assistance for printing books for children of Ukrainian refugees: https://gogetfunding.com/crowdfunding-campaign-to-support-printing-of-ukrainian-childrens-books/

The international cultural community has the power to help end this war. We ask for your support in the name of democratic values, peace, truth, and freedom of choice.

The team of the Ukrainian stand:

Contact persons:

General questions Sofia Chelyak international.department@ubi.org.ua

Representative of the team in London Olga Mukha olha.mukha@gmail.com