06 June 2025
(Photo: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh)
The All-Ukrainian exhibition and forum "Ukrainian Book in Odesa Region" opened on June 6, for the twenty-fifth time, at the Odesa National Scientific Library.
This year's media partner of the forum is Intent magazine.
The main goal of the forum is to promote the development of the spiritual, intellectual, and cultural potential of the Ukrainian people by promoting contemporary Ukrainian books, fostering a culture of reading on the best examples of national and world literature, and holding charity events aimed at replenishing libraries in the Odesa region with modern domestic book products.
According to Kateryna, project manager at Akademia Publishing House, the war has forced domestic publishers to look for ways to save money, and one way to save money is to look for domestic heroes and ideas instead of buying the rights to use them abroad.
"The war has made us think about how to reduce royalties and printing costs, and that we need to do something of our own. Not to buy translated or cartoon-based rights somewhere abroad, but to come up with our own idea. So we had a great idea and made The Alphabet of the Fig Cat. This is our author Olena Pavlova. It turned out to be a good book. Why not promote your hero - a cat? Cats are loved in Ukraine, and almost every house has a cat. Why not popularize it? It will be interesting for children," she said.
The last book Kateryna recalled reading was The Sinner by Violina Sytnik and her own Lali, a story for teenagers about a Georgian girl whose parents brought her to Ukraine from the war, but the war caught up with her here. There is also a book about Karl Lagerfeld.
Librarian Tetiana noted that this year, because of the war, fewer publishers attended the forum than usual.
"I've been participating in such events every year for 15 years. There are a lot of books represented now, but fewer than before because of the war, and publishers cannot present their products to the same extent," she said.
Among the last books she read, Tetiana mentioned A Woman in Berlin, about the actions of the Soviet military in the German capital in 1945.
Vitalii Zapeka , a writer and former military officer, visited the Ukrainian Book in Odesa Region forum for the second time in 2014 and notes that he feels like he is among his own.
"The visitors here are very sincere. You know, there are several festivals in Odesa, and this one I associate with my readers. There are no casual "wadders" here, and this impresses me a lot, I feel that I have come to my own. I was discharged from the army in April due to an injury and managed to attend four festivals, not counting tours. I've stopped asking the name of the city where I'm performing because I can't remember it."
Vitaliy Zapeka recalled one of the last books he read, The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, and noted that he was surprised by the author's wisdom and was comparing what was written in the book with what is happening now.
Кирило Бойко