KyivBookFest: a new chapter in Kyiv’s literary scene proves one festival isn’t enough

22.09.2023

Nastya Kvitka

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Different Ukrainian cities hosted several various cultural events between Sept. 8-10. On Sept. 7, Lviv hosted the Congress of Culture, which was full of engaging discussions, and Chernivtsi welcomed Meridian Czernowitz, the traditional poetry festival. Meanwhile, the capital was home to KyivBookFest, a book festival that had everything we thought such an event should include. This year it was held for the first time in the Gorodok Gallery shopping mall. The organizers reported around 25,000 people at the festival over three days, which is an impressiove turnout for a first-time event held relatively far from the downtown.

Despite the fact that Pochayna (formerly known as Petrivka) metro station in Kyiv is well-known for its book flea markets, a shopping mall is quite an unusual location for a book festival. The Ukrainian public are more accustomed to exhibition centers and other big spaces where books are displayed and various activities take place. Examples include open-air fairs or fairs at alley in front of the opera house such as the Green Wave book festival in Odesa, BookForum in Lviv or the BookSpace festival in Dnipro. At the same time, a trading tent, while not a typical venue, can’t be called a completely isolated location — it is a place where people come ready to spend money, so why not spend it on books?

“We were choosing between the two locations: Ukrainian House and this one, and this one is better. It has good options for logistics, a nice food court, and great rooms. No other exhibition had such stands,” says Vladyslav Kyrychenko, public figure, patron, founder of Nash Format Publishing House and organizer of KyivBookFest. He added there was a subway and an underground pedestrian crossing nearby, which means all safety measures were met in case of an air raid alert.

More than 100 publishers took part in KyivBookFest, and many of them reported good sales. The organizers of the festival conducted a survey to gauge the success of sales. According to the feedback received, the majority of participants were able to cover the cost of participation. A significant number of publishers even had a positive balance and plan to participate in future editions of the festival.

The event part of the festival was quite extensive. The festival included nine distinct venues simultaneously hosting lectures, discussions and workshops. All in all, the program included 160 events, and you could attend any just by making a donation. Visitors managed to raise 21,750 USD for printing charters and manuals for the Armed Forces, and 5,500 people attended the events. Notably, the largest charitable donation of UAH 7,000 was made by a visitor at the auction during the performance of the band Fiolet (Фіолет), who won a book “The Long Curfew” written by Ukrainian fiction writer Andriy Kokotyukha and signed by Kyrylo Budanov, the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

The discussions of the festival were primarily focused on the book market and the war, two topics that have gone hand in hand in recent years in Ukraine. Topics ranged from state support of book publishing during wartime, cultural de-occupation and distribution, to the prospects of libraries and the role of institutions in shaping the book market.

Vladyslav Kyrychenko hosted a special session for young authors and publishers offering them insights and advice on how to launch a publishing house during the Russian invasion, expand their audience and boost sales.

There were, of course, book presentations. Many people came to the meetings with Ukrainian writers Max Kidruk, the Kapranov brothers, Maria Matios, Vasyl Shklyar, activist, essayist and military Yuriy Hudymenko, author and editor Danylo Yanevsky, historian Volodymyr Viatrovych and journalist and essay author Serhiy Rudenko. Ukrainian composer, author and translator Victor Morozov and poet and publisher Ivan Malkovych had a presentation together, which was well attended.

“My impressions today are even better than they were yesterday!” Ivan Malkovych said, with emotion in his voice. “So many people. I’m amazed. The festival, which has just been born, and we thought that the publicity was too small, we didn’t make a big deal, but there are people, lots of people, it’s wonderful,” he added.

There was also music at the book festival: performances by Ukrainian singer Oleksandr Polozhynsky and the bands Fiolet and OT VINTA closed the festival’s program every day.

Publisher and the winner of the Chytomo Award Oleksandr Savchuk says initially he had some reservations about taking part in the first KyivBookFest:

“The location was new, the main venue on the street. However, in all aspects the publishing house is satisfied because this is a book fair with a focus on books and events in this sphere. Another feature of the event was to attract readers — the target audience, and of course, the joy of communicating with readers.”

Olga Pogynaiko, representative of Smoloskyp Publishing House and director of Smoloskyp bookstore, has also admitted doubts the publishing house had at the very beginning, but it turned out the risk was well worth it:

“The very possibility of combining a shopping mall with a book festival and a fair was a revelation for me. Somehow I never thought of the mall as a space for books. And it turns out that it is possible.”

“I liked the festival very much,” says Oleksandr Krasovytskyi, founder of the Folio publishing house. “It answered the question whether the book market is growing or not, whether book forums need publishers and professional events, not only books. Everything is perfectly managed, as for the first time.” He added that book festivals are meant to popularize books, not to compete with one another.

It’s evident that the size of the publishing market can support not just one, but two major book festivals in the capital. Even if these events coincide with other significant cultural happenings, it does not prevent them from attracting large audiences, especially since all these events have very different formats. Meridian Czernowitz will suit some people, while others may find KyivBookFest more to their liking.

The festival organizers expressed their satisfaction with the even’ts outcome, and indicated they are open to holding it again.

“We are pleased with efforts and the support we received from the publishing marketю We’ve accomplished a great deal together. There is, of course, always room for growth and improvement, but this year we successfully met our challenges. The festival was profitable because it showed the strength, potential and unity of the book publishing market,” says Liudmyla Fit, marketing expert at Nash Format Publishing House.

Will KyivBookFest return next year? Only time will tell, but it is already clear that Kyiv and its residents have a demand for books that cannot be satisfied only by the Book Arsenal festival, and where there’s demand, there’s a market.

The war is still not over and it is difficult to predict whether we will have an opportunity to attend the book festivals in Kyiv in 2024. Yet, we remain hopeful for more such events in the future. The Ukrainian cultural space merits richness and diversity.

Image: KyivBookFest

Chytomo spotlights:Ukrainian culture on and after frontline” project. The project is funded by the Stabilisation Fund for Culture and Education of the German Federal Foreign Office
and the Goethe-Institut. goethe.de.