Ukrainian online bookstore opens in Riga

A Ukrainian bookstore, selling books in Ukrainian, has opened in Riga, the Latvian capital, reported the store’s founder, language professional and teacher Artem Chuiko.

In March 2024, the project was launched as an Instagram page. On Ukraine’s Independence Day, the website started its work.

“It all started when I saw two schoolboys at a bus stop in downtown Riga. Both had yellow and blue ribbons on their school backpacks, but they spoke Russian. As a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature, I was very upset to hear that,” Chuiko told Chytomo.

He added that many Ukrainian children, finding themselves in Latvia, may assimilate and forget the Ukrainian language over time.

“All these young people, meant to be the new generation that represents Ukraine and carries Ukrainian identity in Europe, risk losing the most important marker of heritage — their national language.”

The first batch of books that Artem purchased were mostly children’s books, but soon it was clear that there was also significant demand from adults. Popular book categories include women’s novels, Ukrainian classics, thrillers, and popular psychology.

Currently, the most popular books in the store  are “I See You’re Interested in Darkness” by Ilarion Pavliuk, “Voroshilovgrad” and “Boarding School” by Serhii Zhadan, “The Ladder” and “Ask Miechka” by Eugenia Kuznetsova, and Ukrainian classics.

The store has no physical location yet. “We work offline when we participate in fairs,” said Chuiko.

“However, we plan to open a bookstore in Riga that will not only offer books, but also be a creative space for meetups of readers and author events. We are currently searching for the location,” he added.

The bookstore works with such publishers as Vivat, Borodatyi Tamaryn, Book Club. Family Leisure Club, the Old Lion Publishing House, A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, Ranok, Vihola, and Oleksandr Savchuk Publisher.

Chuiko notes that among Ukrainian authors, Latvians know best Lesya Ukrayinka, Serhii Zhadan, and Oksana Zabuzhko.

It is worth noting that the Ukrainian bookstore cooperates with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), which translates Ukrainian authors into English, and is searching for publishers who translate Ukrainian writers into various languages.

RELATED: eBook program for young people launched in Ukraine

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn