A new culture of literary festivals is emerging in Ukraine. They gather top authors, create space for dialogue, support the publishing industry, and open new meanings — from decolonization to the experience of war. We have collected the events that are transforming our reading landscape: from the legendary BookForum to young festivals like PORT, “Book Country,” and BestsellerFest.
This year, a new cultural magnet appeared on the Odesa coast — the PORT literary festival. It was created by the NGO “Vyshyvankovyi Festival,” a team that has been organizing major cultural events in the city for over 16 years — from embroidered shirt parades to Independence Day celebrations. PORT aims to become a platform that speaks about Odesa and the Ukrainian South in its own, non-colonial context.
The festival was held for the first time in August and immediately gathered over 5,000 visitors. The venues were the Odesa National Scientific Library and the Puppet Theatre — spaces where discussions unfolded for two days about language and identity, colonial myths, historical prose, fantasy, and Black Sea culture. Among the participants were Volodymyr Yermolenko, Kateryna Kalytko, Sofiia Cheliak, Alim Aliiev, and dozens of voices shaping contemporary literature.
The PORT program combined discussions, book presentations, music performances, poetry readings, exhibitions, and a live podcast recording. In the evenings, the stage hosted “Kryhitka,” “Kolir,” “Chumatskyi Shlyakh,” and “Okolytsia.” In the art halls, visitors could see works by Valeriy Puzik and Dmytro Kozatskyi (Orest).
A separate festival location was the book fair — but the team emphasizes: this is not a classic publisher exhibition. PORT focuses on independent initiatives and local book communities, offering the chance to purchase editions, find niche projects, and speak directly with authors.
The first festival’s focus theme — “The Coast of Freedom.” It became the key to conversations about how the sea shapes the linguistic and cultural fabric of the region, and how Odesa can interpret its past and present without imperial overlays.
“Book Country” is one of the youngest yet already one of the largest literary events in Ukraine. It was founded by Yevhen and Diana Mushkin as a space combining a book fair, meetings with authors, presentations, workshops, and relaxation areas. From the beginning, the event aimed not only to attract experienced readers but also to engage a new audience, turning book culture into a modern urban experience.
The festival takes place on the territory of Kyiv’s VDNG and is held twice a year — in spring and autumn. It quickly became a sensation: in its first years it gathered tens of thousands of visitors and grew into a real family cultural platform. The formats include “family readings” with public figures, creative and educational workshops, children’s spaces, thematic lectures, discussions, and autograph sessions.
Each season, the festival expands its program with thematic directions such as “Fantasy and Horror,” “Cinema and Literature,” a block on veterans and war prose, and presentations of new releases from major Ukrainian publishers.
“Land of Poets” is an international poetry festival in Lviv that quickly became the largest Ukrainian platform dedicated specifically to poetry. It unites dozens of renowned authors, musicians, directors, intellectuals, and all those who believe in the power of the written word. The festival is distinguished by its scale and dynamism: over several days it hosts poetry readings, literary discussions, concerts, stage formats, performances, and text presentations.
The festival’s core idea is to show that poetry shapes worldview, memory, and national identity. A significant part of the program is dedicated to rethinking literary heritage: from interwar and modernist poets to the Prague school, émigré and underground voices, as well as writers who shaped the modern Ukrainian canon.
“Land of Poets” traditionally features the strongest voices of contemporary literature — Serhiy Zhadan, Yuri Izdryk, Kateryna Kalytko, Maryana Savka, Natalka Bilotserkivets, Halyna Kruk, Liudmyla Taran, Dmytro Lazutkin, Artur Dron, and many others. International guests from Europe and the USA also join, strengthening the festival’s role as a platform for global exchange.
Lviv has long held the status of a literary capital, but in 2025, another event joined the city calendar — BestsellerFest. Held for the first time, it became a logical continuation of “Land of Poets,” which took place in autumn 2024. The organizers set a high bar: more than twenty authors with large audiences, vibrant conversations about books, and a dynamic multi-day program.
Among the guests were Yevheniia Kuznetsova, Illarion Pavliuk, Maria Matios, Vasyl Shkliar, Irena Karpa, Andriy Kokotiukha, Maksym Kidruk, Andriy Lyubka, Myroslav Dochynets, Volodymyr Viatrovych, and other voices of contemporary literature. Meetings with them became the festival’s main attraction: readings, interviews, and live discussions about demand for Ukrainian books, genre experiments, and the role of literature during wartime.
In addition to author events, the festival hosted a book fair with new releases and special offers, a children’s area, relaxation zones, and food courts. The evening program enriched the event further: the stage featured bands whose front performers also write books — Irena Karpa with “Faktychno Sami” and Serhiy Martyniuk with “Fiolet.”
On Ukraine’s literary map, Lutsk has for several years been associated with the “Frontera” festival. First held in 2018, it brought together key voices of contemporary culture and quickly became an event that views literature not just as a book process but as something much broader. After the events of 2019–2020, the festival fell silent for four years, but in 2024 it returned with a new mission — to talk about the changes brought by full-scale war.
The venue again became the museum space of “Okolnyi Castle,” and the 2025 theme — “Community.” The organizers sought to reflect on what holds Ukrainian society together in times of transformation, how to synchronize traumatic experiences, and how to build a shared future from different stories and identities.
The program was built around five key discussions: the role of landscapes in shaping culture, colonial wounds and identities, internal changes during wartime, processing loss, and the power of hope. Ukrainian and international participants joined these panels — musicians, authors, researchers, and journalists from Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Colombia, and the UK.
Alongside the discussions, the festival hosted poetry readings by director Iryna Tsilyk and poet Artur Dron, public interviews, stand-up, and music performances. The stage featured the “Harmyder” theatre, “Kryhitka,” and singer-bandurist Maryna Krut.
The list of participants impresses every year. Different editions of the festival have featured Yurii Izdryk, Irena Karpa, Maksym Kidruk, Yevheniia Kuznetsova, Rostyslav Semkiv, Marichka Paplauskaite, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Andriy Lyubka, Oleksandr Mykhed, Bohdan Lohvynenko, Olena Styazhkina, and many others. Among foreign guests — Polish author Ryszard Kupidura, French writer Fabrice Deprez, Portuguese author Ana França, and others.
“Chytai Forum” in Zaporizhzhia is a young literary festival exploring how books create human connections and bring reading culture back into shared public space. It debuted recently but quickly gained attention and became an important cultural platform for the region.
The festival unites writers, literary scholars, publishers, artists, educators, and readers from various cities. Its program includes live discussions, book presentations, author performances, workshops, book-club meetings, masterclasses, theatre formats, and music events.
Among the guests were prominent Ukrainian authors, including Irena Karpa, Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, Anastasiia Yevdokymova, Volodymyr Stanchyshyn, Vitalii Zapeka, and others shaping the contemporary literary discourse. The festival also blends literature with other art forms — from theatre to music — expanding the perception of text and the spoken word.
The Meridian literary festivals unfold across several Ukrainian cities: Chernivtsi, Poltava, Odesa, Lutsk, and other locations with deep cultural and historical voices. Meridian gathers writers, poets, editors, and readers from Ukraine and Europe to discuss literature in the broadest sense — as cultural heritage, dialogue, and contemporary experience.
The program is always rich: poetry readings, author meetings, discussions, lectures, book presentations, theatrical performances, music-and-poetry evenings, and even wine-and-cigar sessions with poetry. Meridian is also a space for publishers and literary managers: they present new books, search for promising authors, and build professional connections.
The festivals have hosted participants from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Israel, Romania, and Ukraine. Among the guests were canonical voices of modern Ukrainian literature: Yurii Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, Oksana Zabuzhko, Yurii Izdryk, and many others. For readers, Meridian is a chance to hear the living voices of authors; for writers — a place where their texts are attentively heard.
Lviv’s BookForum grew from the first Publishers’ Forum in 1994, when a group of local enthusiasts decided to build a civilized book market in Ukraine and a platform for professional communication among publishers, authors, and translators. From a small initiative, it became the country’s most important literary festival and one of the largest book events in Central and Eastern Europe.
The festival is organized by the NGO “Publishers’ Forum,” which has long been promoting reading, supporting Ukrainian publishing, running the BookForum Best Book Award, and developing international cooperation.
Each year, BookForum brings thousands of visitors and participants from dozens of countries to Lviv: writers, publishers, journalists, philosophers, artists, and scholars. Over the years, the festival has hosted more than 2,500 authors from 43 countries, becoming the place where Ukrainian literature meets the global context.
The program is extensive: discussions, book presentations, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, concerts, stage readings, film screenings, and the beloved “Night of Poetry and Music Non-Stop.” Each year, the forum forms a separate focus theme and curated clusters — from history, media, and philosophy to education, comics, science, and war experience.
Among the festival’s honorary guests have been Paulo Coelho, Zygmunt Bauman, Erlend Loe, DBC Pierre, Frédéric Beigbeder, Anne Applebaum, as well as key Ukrainian authors — Oksana Zabuzhko, Serhiy Zhadan, Yurii Andrukhovych, and many others.
If you want to enrich your trips not only with book events but also with gastronomic discoveries, check out the selection “Where to Enjoy Wine: Key Wine Festivals and Tastings of Ukraine,” featuring the country’s major wine events.
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