The 77th Frankfurt International Book Fair will take place in Frankfurt am Main from 15 to 19 October. Every year, the fair attracts more than 230,000 visitors from over 90 countries, hosts more than 3,000 events, and is covered by over 7,000 journalists worldwide.
It is both a platform for professional meetings and negotiations within the book industry, and a platform for socio-political discussions on pressing issues shaping the modern world. So, what will Ukraine’s programme look like this year?
The Ukrainian national stand is organised by the Ukrainian Book Institute with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute and Mystetskyi Arsenal. Covering 200 m², the stand will be located in Hall 4.1, F79/80. It will showcase more than 300 books from 38 Ukrainian publishers. Publishers will negotiate rights sales and acquisitions and establish contacts for future collaboration. Creative Women Publishing will also be presented with a separate stand, as the winner of the Chytomo award.
Ukrainian Events Programme
The Ukrainian events programme is jointly prepared by the Ukrainian Book Institute, Mystetskyi Arsenal, the Ukrainian Institute, the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, and the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
The fair will feature presentations of German translations of Ukrainian literature – both contemporary and classical – meetings with authors, and discussions of their new roles and new texts; poetry and documentary prose shaped during wartime; and Ukrainian classics. Translation catalogues and recommended reading lists will also be distributed.
More than 45 Ukrainian and foreign writers, translators, journalists, literary scholars, and cultural managers will take part in the programme, both at the Ukrainian National Stand and on the main stages of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
This year’s participants in the Ukrainian programme include:
Yuri Andrukhovych, Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, Halyna Kruk, Liubko Deresh, Artem Chapai, Mariam Naiem, Maksym Eristavi, Andriy Lyubka, Natalka Marynchak, Oksana Forostyna, Kateryna Kalytko, Yaryna Chornohuz, Valentyna Sotnykova, Oleksandr Mykhed, Szczepan Twardoch, Kate Tsurkan, Stefaniia Ptashnyk, Myroslav Laiuk, Kateryna Mishchenko, Natalia Chermalykh, Yuliia Danylevska, Tania Malyarchuk, Roksoliana Sviato, Veronika Yadukha, Yuliia Iliukha, Oleksandr Irvanets, Ulrich Schmid, Alessandro Achilli, Claudia Date, Jutta Lindekugel, Kati Brunner, Lydia Nagel, Andreas Rostek, Barbara Baranowa, Lawrence Schimel, Carl Henrik Fredriksson, Yurii Gurzhy, Tine Hammer, Jakob Wunderwald, Beatrix Kersten, Shamma Shahat, Olaf Kühl, Katharina Raabe, Kateryna Schultens, among others.
‘For several years now, the Ukrainian Institute has been involved in organising Ukraine’s presence at one of the world’s key book fairs, which has long been not only a professional event but also a space for discussing pressing issues that are reshaping the world. We are co-organisers of the Ukrainian programme, both at the national stand and on the fair’s main stage, and have invited seven Ukrainian and international writers whose works have recently been published in German and address important topics about Ukraine, including the war. We are also preparing information materials for both professional and wider audiences at the fair. Among them are recommended reading lists of Ukrainian classics, compiled at our request by renowned literary scholars Tamara Hundorova and Alessandro Achilli, as well as a translation catalogue produced as a result of the second edition of the translation programme in Germany, which includes German-language excerpts from works by Ukrainian authors, both contemporary and classical. Our goal is to ensure Ukrainian literature is translated and read abroad more frequently, which is why every year we join the organisation of the Ukrainian programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair,’ noted Tetyana Filevska, Creative Director of the Ukrainian Institute.
‘In recent years we have witnessed growing interest from German publishers in Ukrainian authors, which forms the basis for their presence abroad. This year in Frankfurt a number of translated texts will be published — by Andriy Lyubka, Oleksandr Irvanets, Maksym Eristavi, Mariam Naiem’s ‘A Short History of a Long War’, poetry by Yaryna Chornohuz and the late Maksym Kryvtsov. Two publishing houses will also release German translations of books by Victoria Amelina. In addition, this year Claudia Dathe and Tanja Maljartschuk will present the first two volumes of a large-scale collection of Ukrainian classics at Wallstein Verlag,’ said Maria Shubchyk, co-coordinator of the Ukrainian programme from the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine.
Full programme of Ukrainian events at the Frankfurt Book Fair
This year, for the fourth time in a row, the Special Programme for Publishers from Ukraine and Neighbouring Countries will take place, organised by the Frankfurt Book Fair in cooperation with the Book Arsenal and the Goethe-Institut Ukraine. Its aim is to foster learning and networking among publishers, editors, licensing managers and literary agents from Ukraine, Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The programme was launched in 2022 and is supported financially by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
The Book Arsenal stand J83 in Hall 3.1 Art. BookArt. Design will be dedicated to the concept ‘All Between Us is Translation’, which was the focus theme of the 13th Book Arsenal. Here, the institution’s catalogues will be on display. Issues relevant to an international audience – the translation of experiences and the search for a common language in a constantly changing world – will also be explored in the events of the Ukrainian programme.
Overall, the Ukrainian programme at the national stand has been made possible thanks to the support of the Beauftragte für Medien und Kultur, Frankfurter Buchmesse, Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels, International Renaissance Foundation, the NGO Horizons Without Borders, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Frankfurt am Main, Kultur Kräfte, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, as well as the Coordination Centre in Frankfurt am Main.
