Acclaimed Ukrainian poet and illustrators among headliners at Budapest literary festival

Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuk and illustrators Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv of Art Studio Agrafka are among the featured guests at Budapest’s PesText International Literary and Cultural Festival, which opens on Nov. 12. The program includes a discussion of poetry and war, an exhibition of Ukrainian illustrated books, and a professional illustration workshop.

The festival runs from Nov. 12–14 at the Petőfi Literary Museum and Három Holló cultural venue, bringing together writers, translators, and illustrators from across Europe and beyond. According to the organizers, the program includes literary discussions, exhibitions, workshops, staged readings, and book signings.

Yakimchuk, a Ukrainian poet and playwright known for her collection “Apricots of Donbas,” will participate in a discussion with literary translator Diána Vonnák at the Petőfi Literary Museum on Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. 

Lyuba Yakimchuk, photo: hromadske

The conversation will explore war, memory, displacement, and the expressive possibilities of language. Vonnák translated Yakimchuk’s poetry collection into Hungarian under the title “Donbaszi sárgabarackok,” published by Prae Kiadó in 2026.

The discussion will be conducted in Ukrainian with Hungarian interpretation. Copies of the collection will be available for purchase, followed by a book signing.

The festival’s official opening ceremony will take place at 7 p.m., with Ukrainian Ambassador to Hungary Fedir Shandor and Hungarian poet and literary translator Zoltán Csehy.

Later that evening, at 7:30 p.m., Agrafka artists Romanyshyn and Lesiv will discuss their books, illustration, and collaborative creative process with László Nagy, an associate professor at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.

Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv (Art Studio Agrafka), photo: Iryna Sereda / The Ukrainians

Their exhibition, “Tágra nyílt szemmel” (“With Eyes Wide Open”), will open at 8:30 p.m. at the Petőfi Literary Museum. Featuring a selection of the duo’s books and illustrations, it highlights their distinctive approach to visual storytelling through vivid colors, geometric forms, and typography.

The exhibition was developed with curatorial input from Flóra Peťovská, art director of Csirimojó Publishing House, and will remain open until Nov. 29.

Agrafka will also lead a three-day illustration workshop for professional illustrators, artists, and art students. The workshop will explore visual storytelling through different graphic languages, colors, and themes. Participation is limited to 20 people, selected through an application process that closed in October.

Other participants from Central and Eastern Europe include Slovak writer Pavol Rankov, who will discuss history, individual lives, and the memory of Central Europe with Hungarian presenter Nóra Winkler on Nov. 12.

Polish playwright and children’s author Malina Prześluga will take part in a discussion with translator Patrícia Pászt on Nov. 14. The conversation will explore drama, children’s literature, and theater, followed by a staged reading of Prześluga’s play “Debil” by the Dante Casino theater group. The play addresses prejudice against people with disabilities and questions of empathy.

Hungarian literary translator Timea Tankó, who has translated works by András Visky and György Dragomán into German, will discuss the challenges of literary translation with Wilhelm Droste on Nov. 13. Their conversation will focus on how the distinctive styles and voices of Hungarian authors can be preserved when their works reach readers in other languages.

The festival will also feature a presentation of “Lines from Visegrád,” a five-language anthology project bringing together short prose by young Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian writers. The project aims to encourage literary collaboration and exchange among the four Central European countries.

Other international guests include French sociologist and writer Didier Eribon, Italian novelist Federica Manzon, and British science fiction author qntm.

Organized by the Hungarian Literary Authors’ Rights Protection and Management Association (MISZJE), PesText has been held since 2019. All festival events are free to attend, although some require advance registration. The full program and participation details are available on the festival website.

As reported earlier, Agrafka’s book “Half a Word: About Communication and Understanding Each Other,” published by the Old Lion Publishing House, received a special mention at the 2026 BolognaRagazzi Awards. The recognition marked the studio’s fourth distinction at the competition. Romanyshyn and Lesiv also received the Chytomo Award in the Ukrainian Book Ambassador category in 2023.

Yakimchuk has also continued presenting Ukrainian poetry internationally. In April 2026, she participated in the Metropolis Bleu International Literary Festival in Montreal, where poems from “Apricots of Donbas” were performed in Ukrainian, English, and French. French actress Catherine Deneuve read the French translations, while Yakimchuk also took part in a discussion about the experiences of war.

Main image: pexels