A new publishing house focused on war literature established in Ukraine

A new publishing house, Adaptation, with war as a central topic, was established in Ukraine. Its editor-in-chief Serhiy Manirko revealed details in his conversation with Chytomo.

According to Manirko, the main idea of the project is to popularize literature written by the military and discover more authors among a broader audience.

“Currently, we see a somewhat sad trend that there are plenty of works about the war in Ukraine, but very few bestsellers in the traditional sense that would be published abroad,” Manirko explained. “We hope to publish novels that will become bestsellers in Europe or America and that will someday become the basis for film adaptations.”

The title was chosen intentionally. According to Manirko, for the publishing team, it means adapting people to today’s reality.

“Our projects demonstrate the metamorphosis that ordinary people have undergone in the conditions of war. Different for everyone. For the military, it is to defend their country; for civilians, it is to help the military. The life of every Ukrainian has changed forever, and we have adapted to this difficult time. So has literature,” Manirko added.

The publishing house has chosen to focus on works with military topics, believing it is important to provide a chance to speak out for those experiencing the war. At present, they plan to publish both military memoirs and reflections of civilians. The publishing house is currently collaborating with five writers, two of whom are soldiers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the moment, the publishing house is preparing its first editions. Among them is a new novel, “The Little Dictator” by Dmytro Bielov. The book is a sharp satire on everything happening inside Russia and showing the events of the war in Ukraine through the eyes of Russian officials, including the dictator Putin. In addition, Manirko said the publishing house is editing the text of a memoir written by a soldier of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, and they hope to publish the book by the summer of 2025.

After the release of these first novels, the publishing house team plans to organize tours for promotion and meetings with their authors. The editor-in-chief also noted that the publishing house will actively participate in book festivals. The team is now operating remotely, working on registration and searching for an office in Kyiv. Additionally, Manirko mentioned that the publishing house is open to collaborating with new authors, and manuscripts can be submitted to [email protected].

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Copy editing: Joy Tataryn