The eighth International Festival Book Arsenal, an annual book fair, kicks off in Kyiv on May 30, and will last until June 3. More than 150 publishing houses will present their books at the festival, and about 200 Ukrainian writers and 100 foreign guests will take part in its events.
The theme of this year’s Book Arsenal is “The Project of the Future.” In contrast to previous years, where literature during times of war and crisis was discussed, this year the Arsenal’s focus shifted to more global questions, including what does humanity dream about, what will the future world order be like, what are the chances of democracy in the face of hybrid challenges, and more.
The festival will present special projects related to contemporary technologies, changes in reading habits, and experiencing and living through stories. It will include virtual reality and storytelling combinations. A robot will even make coffee at Café of the Future, one of the festival locations.
The festival agenda consists of the international, children’s, and musical programs, special thematic platforms, as well as visual projects and exhibitions.
The international program will gather participants such as UNESCO expert and director of the Institute of Practical Philosophy in Paris, Oscar Brenifier (France), a poet, translator, human rights activist, and professor of Slavic languages and literature at Yale University, Tomas Venclova (Lithuania), a Croatian and Bosnian literary figure, Miljenko Jergović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the president of the American Literary Translators Association, Aron Aji (the United States), the president of the Icelandic PEN-club, writer Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, Italian writer Francesca Melandri, and writer, essayist and journalist Slavenka Drakulić (Croatia-Sweden).
Representatives from the Bratislava Book Festival (BRaK) will also take part in Arsenal and present a program of readings, public talks, and events.
As part of the festival’s children’s program, participants will talk about what books for kids are available nowadays and which of them will be relevant in the future. The special international guests for this part of the festival are, among others, Evelyn Arizpe, Eva Susso, Emilia Dziubak, Grzegorz Kasdepke, and Gudrun Skretting.
The festival will also include the Next Sound festival, promoting the development of digital arts diversity in conjunction with experimental music. The program will be attended by artists from France, Germany, Austria, and Ukraine.
Within the professional program, there will be a presentation of the platform Booking the Future. It aims to outline global and regional trends, innovations and forecasts in the literature sphere. It will focus on the changing habits and expectations of readers, and the response by publishers to readers’ needs. A meeting space for Ukrainian and foreign publishers, literary agents, translators and heads of book institutions will be available as well.
The special thematic platforms will include the sharing of experiences by business managers, supported by the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. Within the program, there will be talks and presentations of books on responsible leadership and management.
Charity projects, performances, exhibitions, font workshops, printing technologies, art installations, and film shows will be presented at the book fair as well.
The program of visual projects and exhibitions includes presentations of visual books, Ukrainian art publications, photo books and discussions. One of the exhibitions, “Metropolis. Past Utopias of the Future,” focuses on architecture, inventions, and cinema – in particular, Kyiv reconstruction projects created by the Ukrainian architects of the Stalinist period. Other projects are the “Pictorial Illustrators Club” exhibition, “Visual Metaphors. To Be Continued” by the graphic design department of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, and “Rules of Buravchyk” by the art studio Aza Nizi Maza.
Top 20 events to visit during the Festival
May 30
- Discussion: “Famine 1932-1933: Looking at the Past, Present, and Future” as part of the presentation of the Ukrainian translation of Ann Applebaum’s book “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine.”
Participants: Polish-American journalist, historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ann Applebaum, former Head of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Deputy Head of the Main Department for Humanitarian Policy of the Presidential Administration Yuriy Ruban, Ukrainian historian researching military-historical anthropology and the interethnic relations of the first third of the 20th century Lyudmyla Grynevych, and professor, doctor of history, author of numerous publications on the modern history of Ukraine Stanislav Kulchytskyi.
Europe Cafe, 3-3:45 p.m.
- Myths about the future. A discussion about the book “The Blue Fox” by Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson.
Participants: Islandic novelist Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, known as Sjón, Eliash Strongowski, co-founder of the Vydavnytstvo publishing house, and Ukrainian writer Vitaliy Kryvonis.
Europe Cafe, 4-4:45 p.m.
- Cut my eyelids open. Horror literature, from “Viy” to “Witches.” A discussion of horror novels as a deep social study of the dark side in humans.
Participants: Dutch writer Thomas Olde Heuvelt, representative of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine Maaike van Koldam, Ukrainian translator Anatoliy Pityk, writer and literature critic Volodymyr Puzii (pen name Volodymyr Arenev), and Ukrainian international affairs expert Oleh Hrytsayenko.
Futura Hall, 5-5:45 p.m.
- Poetry reading with Lithuanian poet, prose writer, philologist and translator Tomas Venclova, U.S. writer Ellen Hinsey and Ukrainian prose writer, poet, essayist, and translator Yuriy Andrukhovych.
Outdoor Stage, 5-5:45 p.m.
- Beautiful 20-year olds. Teaser. An opening act ( Playwright: Dmytro Levytskyi. Director: Tamara Trunova)
Sphere Hall, 7-8:45 p.m.
- Serhiy Zhadan. Poems from the manuscript of the new book “Antenna.”
Participants: Ukrainian prose writer, poet, essayist, and translator Serhiy Zhadan, and the president of the International Literature Corporation Meridian Chernowitz, Sviatoslav Pomerantsev.
Outdoor Stage, 7:30-9 p.m.
May 31
- An F-word discussion. Words of the Year curatorial program by Ukrainian journalist, translator, and literature critic Iryna Slavinska.
Participants: Ukrainian writer, news presenter, human rights activist Larysa Denysenko, Ukrainian writer, literature critic, translator Oksana Lutsyshyna, poet and translator Kateryna Kalytko, and Ukrainian writer and translator Yevhenia Kononenko.
Paper Hall, 6-6:45 p.m.
- Poetry & wine to celebrate the launch of Meridian Poltava, the 1st International Festival of Contemporary Ukrainian and Swedish Poetry. Participants: Ukrainian writer, literature critic, and artist Khrystia Venhryniuk, Ukrainian news presenter, poet, screenwriter Miriam Dragina, prose writer, poet, essayist, and translator Serhiy Zhadan, Ukrainian prose writer, poet, essayist, philosopher, and literature critic Oksana Zabuzhko, and Iryna Tsilyk – poet, prose writer, and screenwriter.
Moderators: Sviatoslav Pomerantsev, Oleksandr Bilenkiy
Outdoor Hall, 7-8:30 p.m.
June 1
- The future reset: Post-singularity, virtuality, hopelessness, irreversibility – what should humans expect in the next years? A discussion. Participants: Greek writer Ioanna Bourazopoulou, Polish fantasy writer Cezary Zbierzchowski, and Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy writer Volodymyr Arenev.
Moderator: Olesia Stuzhuk
Europa Cafe, 5-5:45 p.m.
- ProFeminists. A discussion about the Respect anti-sexism campaign. Words of the Year curatorial program by Iryna Slavinska.
Participants: Ukrainian journalist, news presenter, and writer Yuriy Makarov, Ukrainian literature critic, publisher, writer, and translator Rostyslav Semkiv, Ukrainian journalist and TV producer Anatoliy Yerema, and Artem Chapai (pseudonym of Anton Vodianyi), the Ukrainian writer, translator, reporter, and traveler.
Moderator: Larysa Denysenko
Paper Hall, 6-7:45 p.m.
- (Super)human and modern technologies: In search of a new humanism. A discussion.
Participants: Joseph Tabbi, professor of English and project leader in Critical Digital Humanities at the University of Illinois, Oleksandr Ivashyna, culture studies lecturer at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, R&D company Director Vasyl Mylko, educational expert at Ukrainian Institute of Future Mykola Skyba, and photographer Josyp Sywenkyi.
Cinema, 6-6:45 p.m.
- Bunar. Performance by Kateryna Kalytko. The Tramontane Kingdom: Poetic Books that will Appear Tomorrow.
Cinema, 8-8:45 p.m.
June 2
- Ukrainian women undermine gender stereotypes? A conversation and presentation of the Ukrainian edition of Katya & The Prince of Siam. Participants: Thai publisher, author, and environmental activist Princess Narisa Chakrabongse, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Thailand in Ukraine Mykhailo Radutskyi, Ambassador of the UK to Ukraine Judith Gough, Oksana Pokalchuk, Amnesty International in Ukraine Executive Director, and entrepreneur Fedir Balandin.
Cafe Europe, 11-11:45 a.m.
- On trolls and trolling. BraK Bratislava Book Festival program. Participants: Slovak author Michal Hvorecký and Ukrainian Doctor of Psychology, Professor Vadym Vasiutynskiy.
Futura Hall, 3-3:45 p.m.
- Extreme experiences of people in times of change: Resisting dehumanization.
Participants: literature critic, poet, and translator Iryna Starovoit, historian and anthropologist Oksana Kis, Ukrainian philosopher and writer Taras Liutyi, literature critic, poet, translator Ostap Slyvynskiy, and artist and writer Alevtyna Kakhidze.
Paper Hall, 4-5:45 p.m.
June 3
- They lied! Why fantasy and sci-fi writers do not say about the future #youareascifiwriter feature project.
Participants: executive director of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future Viktor Andrusiv, literature critic, translator, and lecturer at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Olesia Stuzhuk, journalist and writer Oleh Shynkarenko, writer, poet, and artist Maria Kozyrenko, literature critic, writer, and translator Ostap Ukrayinets, and journalist and writer Oleh Silin.
Sphere Hall, 11 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
- Presentation of Heinrich von Kleist’s play “The Broken Jug” in Ukrainian.
Participants: Ukrainian prose writer, poet, essayist, and translator Yuriy Andrukhovych, Ukrainian actor Ostap Stupka, and Ivan Franko Theater actors.
Moderator: Ivan Malkovych
Outdoor Hall, 3-3:45 p.m.
- Retrofuturism. Projects of the future in literature. A conversation. Participants: Ukrainian literature critic, avant-garde researcher Yaryna Tsymbal, literature critic, publisher, writer, and translator Rostyslav Semkiv, literature critic and science-fiction writer Mykhailo Nazarenko, writer and screenwriter Taras Antypovych, and culture studies lecturer at the National Franko University Ihor Kolesnyk.
Paper Hall, 4-4:45 p.m.
- Presentation of “The Anthology of Young Ukrainian Poetry in the Third Millenium.”
Participants: Ukrainian writers Dmytro Lazutkin, Kateryna Babkina, Ostap Slyvynskiy, Liubov Yakymchuk, Taras Malkovych, Kateryna Kalytko, Andriy Liubka, Iryna Tsilyk, Anna Malihon, Pavlo Korobchuk, Oleh Kotsarev, Bohdan-Oleh Horobchuk, and others.
Moderators: Ukrainian poet, founder and owner of the “A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA” Publishing House Ivan Malkovych, and literature critic, poet, and prose writer Myroslav Laiuk.
Paints Hall, 5-6:45 p.m.
- A writer and war. A conversation.
Participants: Ukrainian prose writer, poet, essayist, philosopher, and literary critic Oksana Zabuzhko, Croatian writer, essayist and journalist Slavenka Drakulić.
Futura Hall, 6-6:45 p.m.
Check out the full program of Book Arsenal events.
Tickets and prices
Full ticket to visit all festival days (May 30-June 3): Hr 250.
A one-day ticket for any day: Hr 70 (discounts for students, free entrance for people with disabilities, soldiers, war participants, and children under 12).
Family one-day ticket (two adults and up to three kids under 18 years old): Hr 150.
Tickets for the event can be bought at the book fair’s ticket office or online (recommended).
Mystetskyi Arsenal. 10-20 Lavrska St.
Festival Hours:
May 30: 2-10 p.m.
May 31: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
June 01: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
June 02: 10-12 a.m.
June 03: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
