International Book Arsenal Festival to Take Place in Kyiv

Our team has gone through numerous scenarios to decide on the event format amid a battle.

on Apr 06, 2023

International Book Arsenal Festival to Take Place in Kyiv

Notwithstanding the continuing conflict with Russia, the International Book Arsenal Festival organizers have declared that the festival will take place this year from June 22-25 in Kyiv. The event is the biggest and most well-known in Ukraine. As usual, the festival will be held in the city's Old Arsenal, which, according to the organizers, also has a bomb shelter if needed.

Around fifty literary events will be held for adults, youth, and children. Book sales, which have previously been handled directly by publishers, will now be handled by local bookstores:

Sens shop will drive nonfiction sales.

Book Lion bookstore will sell fiction titles.

Zakapelok bookstore will sell comics and graphic novels.

There will also be a chosen collection of literature about the conflict on display and for sale.

"Our team has gone through numerous scenarios to decide on the event format amid a battle. Our structure seeks to provide our visitors with a diverse variety of books from as many Ukrainian publishing companies as possible, therefore supporting more agents in the sector, "The Book Arsenal's director, Yuliia Kozlovets, stated.

"Furthermore, I hope that our collaboration with local independent bookstores will allow us to draw attention to the importance of this particular link in the path of a book from the author to the reader: such bookstores, each with its brand, client approach, the culture of building healthy business relationships with publishers, and strategy of developing local communities around them, deserve more visibility. It is also crucial to note that the Book Arsenal's new format will allow publishers to attend the festival as guests, giving them an additional opportunity to focus on meetings and sharing experiences with peers, networking, and internal professional conversations."

"This year's fair will be centered on locals, people who are living in danger, within a conflict, but are coping and want to live their lives to the fullest," Kozlovets added. "People want to be in a comfortable area, with friends, to speak, discuss, and share experiences." We wish to provide them with this chance. We also want others to recognize and honor their bravery and resistance. We aim to identify new books, writers, and publishers continuing their work. This is how we will achieve triumph."

Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, general director of the Book Arsenal, stated: "We are confident that this year, more than ever, we will all require Book Arsenal. The event will help us, boost our resilience, and inspire us... We will do everything we can to provide a comfortable and safe location for people to gather, as well as a platform for us to make sense of our experiences. We will work relentlessly to make it a reality—perhaps Ukraine's most important gathering place for books, readers, and authors."