On October 3-6, Lviv will host the XXXI Lviv BookForum literary festival. INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange is one of the festival's partners.
This year, Lviv BookForum has arranged 150 events at eight locations in the city centre, focusing on the theme “The Power of Collective Action.” This theme will enable discussions on topics that influence global democratic processes, drawing from both historical and contemporary experiences of Ukrainians, including postcolonialism in Ukraine and the world, the power of civic and youth activism, as well as national memory and international conflicts.
Here is the event programme for INDEX’s participation:
Thursday, 3 October, 15:30–17:00
Books about Ukraine in the English-speaking world
Participants: Charlotte Higgins, Victoria Belim, Adrian Karatnycky, Yaroslav Trofimov, Sasha Dovzhyk
Location: Powder Tower
More recently, a plethora of books about Ukraine have appeared in the English-language world. In this panel, moderated by Charlotte Higgins, chief culture writer for The Guardian, authors will discuss their books about Ukraine.
Sasha Dovzhyk, Programme Director of INDEX, will discuss Victoria Amelina’s book “Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary”, to be published in February 2025 by HarperCollins and Macmillan.
Thursday, 3 October, 20:30–21:30
For the future: Poetry reading
Participants: Halyna Kruk, Yaryna Chornohuz, Ostap Slyvynskyi, Hanan Issa, Gad Kaynar-Kissinger, Hinemoana Baker, Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, Jan Wagner, ariel rosé
Location: Powder tower
When reality becomes so intense that words lose their meaning, poetry steps in to describe the feeling.
The best Ukrainian and foreign poets will share poems about freedom, love, and hope at special readings in their national languages and in English.
Supported by the House of Europe and the Goethe-Institute in Ukraine.
Friday, 4 October 2024, 13:00–13:45
“To be After: Experiences of War Veterans in Croatia and Ukraine” with the INDEX Fellow Bohdan Bunchak
Participants: Tomica Bajsić, Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, Alla Tatarenko, Bohdan Bunchak
Location: Museum of Ethnography
A public talk on veteran experiences, highlighting both common and distinctive features grounded in personal experiences, and exploring how these experiences influence artistic perspectives; on art as a part of the practices for reintegrating veterans into civilian life; the politics of remembrance, commemoration, and gratitude.
Saturday, 5 October, 14:00–14:45
Book presentation “A Kind of Refugee: The Story of an American Who Refused to Leave Ukraine”
Participants: Sasha Dovzhuk, Larissa Babij
Location: America House Lviv
Book author Larissa Babij and writer Sasha Dovzhyk talk about the power of the connection with the homeland; how being Ukrainian demands constant effort; and what people abroad can learn from Ukraine’s resistance.
The INDEX team will also organise tours of Lviv led by Inna Zolotar for international guests of the festival on 5 and 6 October.
The full event programme and additional details can be found here: https://bookforum.ua/
