Frankfurt Book Fair
Ukrainian national stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair
“Persistence of Being”
Ukrainian Book Market (presentation)
Books Without Borders (presentation)
Translate Ukraine (presentation)
Here comes another year for Ukraine to present its stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), the most prominent book event in the world. This year, the fair will take place on October 19–23, as always in Frankfurt am Main. The Ukrainian Book Institute and the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine are co-organizers of the national stand with the total surface area of around 100 square meters. Over 40 Ukrainian publishing houses will be presented at the stand, and various Ukrainian authors, illustrators, artists and opinion leaders will address the public.
This year, Ukraine’s presence at the FBF is to embody the idea of Ukrainians’ unbrokenness in Russia’s war against them and their centuries-long struggle for existence. This is what underlies the slogan of the stand “Persistence of Being,” proposed by the philosopher and translator Yurko Prokhasko. The visual design of the stand is based on the “Tree of Life” mosaics by Alla Horska, destroyed in Mariupol last July.
“Either quiet and calm, or straining and desperate, imperturbable or limitless evidence of uniqueness is the essence, the core of the modern Ukrainian culture of the last 250 years. Meanwhile, it is one of the less appreciated phenomena of the European culture. The current willingness of Ukrainian people to fight for their existence in this genocidal war is not only about firmness of the decision and intention to go on being themselves, but also about an incredible worthiness of this persistence of uniqueness, as we, Ukrainians, are willing to pay such a high price. What is this uniqueness and decisiveness? What could it mean in the increasingly complex and contradicting world of our time? Attentive reading of Ukrainian classical and contemporary literature, listening to Ukrainian folk songs and classical music, watching films, beholding art and photography works will open your eyes to non-imperialist European cultures and their decisive, mostly unappreciated, importance of sometimes existential dimension, when it really comes to ‘to be, or not to be’,” this is how Yurko Prokhasko describes the concept of the topic, underlying all the events at the Ukrainian stand.
The quote “What harm could they possibly do to us, as long as we hear each other?” from “Maria’s Life” book by Serhiy Zhadan will be the motto of the Ukrainian program, curated by the Federal Agency for Civic Education in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Book Institute and the Frankfurt Book Fair. The program will be presented on 21–22 October at the Frankfurt Pavilion with the participation of foreign guests and experts from Ukraine and Germany.
Discussions at the Ukrainian stand will be dedicated to challenges of the Ukrainian book market, Ukrainian society and Ukrainian culture. Guests will hear voices of Oksana Zabuzhko, Yurii Andrukhovych, Andriy Kurkov, Serhiy Zhadan, Tania Maliarchuk, Tania Pyankova, Oksana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, Stanislav Aseyev, Haska Shyyan, Lyubov Yakymchuk, Pictoric, and others. Serhiy Zhadan, Yurii Hurzhy and Lyuba Yakymchuk will present “Foxtrots” musical performance based on the 1920s Ukrainian poetry and adapted for German public.
The program of the Ukrainian stand is part of the comprehensive series of events, financed from the 2022 supplementary budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany in order to mitigate the consequences of Russia’s invasive war against Ukraine. The Ukrainian stand would not have been possible without the enormous support from the Frankfurt Book Fair.
In the frame of the FBF, the Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan will receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2022. The awards ceremony is to take place at the Saint Paul’s Church in Frankfurt on 23 October 2022.
The stand will feature books of the following participants: Bohdan Publishing House, Nash Format, The Ark Ukraine Publishing House, Publisher Korbush, UA Comix, Chas Maistriv, Vivat, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), Vikhola, Black Sheep, Unisoft Book Factory, Orion, Summit Books, Kalamar, Mamino, Mushlya, їzhak, Parasolia, Safran, Motornyy Ravlyk, BookChef, IPIO, iKs B.V. | Better Time Stories, Magenta Art Books, The Old Lion Publishing House, Artbooks Publishing House, Kartographia, ist publishing, Crocus, Knigolove, Clio, Anetta Antonenko Publishers, Nika-Centre, Nora-Druk, Meridian Czernowitz, CP Publishing, Portal, Yakaboo Publishing, Zeleniy Pes, My Bookshelf, Ranok, Laboratory, FastAR Kids, Folio, ADEF-Ukraine.
Co-organizers:
The Ukrainian Book Institute is a government entity affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Its mission is to develop state policy in the book sector, promote reading in Ukraine, support book publishing, encourage translations, and promote Ukrainian literature abroad.
The Goethe-Institut is the Federal Republic of Germany's cultural institute, active worldwide. With 158 institutes in 98 countries, it promotes knowledge of the German language abroad, fosters international cultural cooperation, and conveys an up-to-date image of Germany. Since its foundation in 1993, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine has become one of the most important promoters of the Ukrainian educational and cultural landscape.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the most prominent international book fair and an important social and cultural event.
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine (MCIP) ensures the formation and implementation of the state policy in the area of culture, state language policy, promotion of Ukraine in the world, state television and radio broadcasting, information sovereignty of Ukraine and information security.
Media partner of Ukraine’s participation in the FBF is Suspilne.
