The annual book fair will be held in Frankfurt from 16-20 October. Ukraine will be represented by stands with over three hundred books from 31 publishers and its focus theme, Reclaiming the Voice.
Over five days, over 7,000 exhibitors from around 100 countries and more than 286,000 visitors participated in the Fair. The book fair participants are primarily publishers, agents, booksellers, librarians, academics, illustrators, service providers, producers, translators, associations of artists, authors, booksellers, software and multimedia providers. The Frankfurt Book Fair, in addition to its year-round activities at its offices in Frankfurt, has permanent offices in New York, Beijing, Bucharest, and New Delhi. It also has scholarship programs.
Ukraine at the Fair
Ukraine has been participating in the Frankfurt Book Fair for many years. Still, with the emergence of the Ukrainian Book Institute, opportunities were created to create a consolidated and creative program that applies modern technologies and trends to interact with viewers and listeners. The first national stand in the updated format was presented in Frankfurt in 2018.
This year, the Ukrainian Book Institute will organize the Ukrainian national stand in Pavilion 4.1 B64. The stand will feature over 300 books from 31 publishing houses and host negotiations on the sale and purchase of rights to Ukrainian books, establishing cooperation, etc. Pavlo Makov, one of the most famous artists of contemporary Ukraine, designed the national stand.
The International Renaissance Foundation is one of the partners that supported Ukraine’s participation in this year’s Fair.
“Understanding the importance of physical participation of Ukrainian writers, book publishers, intellectuals, and cultural managers in the Frankfurt Book Fair, the International Renaissance Foundation’s Social Capital program has joined the efforts of the Ukrainian Book Institute. We believe this physical interaction will facilitate cooperation between Ukrainian and foreign academic, artistic, and cultural institutions, deepen knowledge and understanding of Ukraine among foreign audiences, and strengthen Ukraine’s international subjectivity,” said Hryhoriy Baran, director of the Social Capital program.
Focus theme 2024
This year’s focus theme for Ukraine is Reclaiming the Voice. We are reclaiming our voice on the global stage and showcasing not only Ukrainian resilience but also the diversity and uniqueness of Ukrainian books. We are making new voices of our literature heard, showcasing new German translations, and telling about Ukrainian classics, reportage, and poetry.
“The voice of Ukraine has been silenced for centuries. It was drowned out by russian imperial cruelty, which favors uniformity over diversity and violence over conversation. Today, Ukraine is fighting to regain its voice. To be heard. And in doing so, it is fighting for the rights of the voiceless. For all other nations and groups whose voices have been ignored for so long,” writes Volodymyr Yermolenko, the author of the concept of the focus topic, President of PEN Ukraine, and Chairman of the Board of the International Renaissance Foundation.
Program
Among the authors, journalists, intellectuals, and artists participating in the Ukrainian program are Oleksandr Mykhed, Sofia Andrukhovych, Nariman Dzhelal, Olena Stiazhkina, Pavlo Makov, Mstyslav Chernov, Tania Maliarchuk, Myroslav Layuk, Iya Kiva, Radomir Mokryk, Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, Alim Aliyev, Iryna Vikyrchak, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Tamara Horikha Zernya, Vakhtang Kebuladze, Yevheniya Kuznetsova, Roksolana Svyato, Halyna Vdovychenko, Natalka Sniadanko, Kateryna Botanova, Anna Gruver, Marichka Paplauskaite and others. The entire Ukrainian program in English is available here (Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 Ukraine Programme.pdf)
In the context of the russian-Ukrainian war and the reduction of state funding for culture in favor of defense needs, the Ukrainian Book Institute cannot pay the total cost of the stand and stage. In addition, there are no funds for the participation of Ukrainian speakers. The physical presence of Ukrainian participants, speaking directly to the foreign public and from their own experience, is significant and is one of the most effective tools for expanding international solidarity with Ukraine. In past years, the Ukrainian stand in Frankfurt has attracted representatives of the European Parliament and governments of various countries to communicate with Ukrainian experts and speakers to further their fight for assistance to Ukraine, which they are leading in their countries.
In addition to the Book Institute, another partner of the International Renaissance Foundation, Mystetskyi Arsenal, will participate in the Frankfurt Book Fair with its stand J85 in the fair’s Hall 3.1 section “Art. Art Book. Design”. This year, the team dedicated it to the concept of “Life on the Edge”, the focus theme of the XII Book Arsenal. At the booth, the institution will present new catalogs of exhibition projects and a bilingual self-publishing edition of the Dovzhenko Centre and Kyiv Bureau Bucya, dedicated to the study of film adaptations of Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi’s works on the occasion of the writer’s 160th anniversary. The Frankfurt Book Fair will also organize a unique program for publishers from Ukraine and neighboring countries in cooperation with the Book Arsenal and Goethe-Institut Ukraine. Mystetskyi Arsenal’s participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair is made possible by the German Federal Ministry of Culture and Media (Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien – Startseite (kulturstaatsministerin.de)
More about the fair and the Ukrainian Book Institute
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest in the world. Frankfurter Buchmesse GmbH organized the first fair after the Second World War in 1949, and 205 German exhibitors participated at that time.
Today, however, the fair’s organizers emphasize that its history dates back to the 15th century when Johannes Gutenberg invented book printing. Back then, printers from Switzerland, Holland, England, Poland, Italy, and France came to Frankfurt to exchange books. The fair was held regularly until the First World War. In the interwar period, there were attempts to restore it, but these initiatives were not regular. That is why the new starting point is 1949.
The Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) is a state institution founded in 2016. Its activities aim to shape state policy in the book industry, promote book reading in Ukraine, support book publishing, stimulate translation activities, and popularise Ukrainian literature abroad. Participation in and presentation of national stands at book fairs and festivals abroad is one of the main tasks of the UIC’s international activities.
