The International Book Arsenal Festival has decided to surpass the results of last year’s Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! Program, and announces the start of its second season.

This year, Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! Will be a joint project of the Book Arsenal and the EU programme House of Europe. The partners of the project are Creative Europe and the Department of Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The main goal of Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! programme is to stimulate translations of Ukrainian books abroad, and to strengthen the competencies of Ukrainian publishers in selling rights abroad.

Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! Program comprises 4 components:

• The educational program — interactive online lectures and workshops from leading global experts on effective sale of rights and new promising markets. It will take place on June 7-9.
• English video lectures with reviews of Ukrainian literature and book publishing, grant opportunities for translators that will continue the series recorded in 2020.
• B2B meetings that will take place on July 5-7 between Ukrainian and international publishers aimed at establishing cooperation and buying rights for Ukrainian books.
• The special project “Ukrainian Literature: Rights On!” on Chytomo website dedicated to 10 stories about successful literary agencies of the world and their inner mechanics, aimed at inspiring the community to create literary agencies in Ukraine.

In 2020, the program included 147 online meetings between Ukrainian and foreign publishers and literary agents. 37 foreign participants from 24 countries participated in the meetings. This has become a record for all the years of Ukraine’s independence, and this year the team is going to surpass these results.

According to the research by the Ukrainian Book Institute, the export potential of Ukrainian book publishing is 80-100 million dollars. In addition to the economic factor, it is also important for us to promote Ukrainian culture abroad, to create ties between people and companies, and to build understanding between societies by means of books. This is an opportunity for Ukraine to be heard and understood. Last year, thanks to our program, Ukrainian book publishing was able to enter both large traditional markets, such as Canada, USA, France, and new, even somewhat exotic ones: Macedonia, Romania, Mexico, Greece, Finland, Denmark, etc. But we have no intention to stop there

said Oksana Khmeliovska, the Curator of the project.

The times of pandemic and limited mobility require not a reduction, but rather an increase in international exchanges and cooperation. And when Europe, more than ever, needs to keep Ukraine in perspective, nothing can be better than the internationalization of Ukrainian literature and the professionals who create it. The Book Arsenal Festival does just that — and even more: by organizing the joint program “Ukrainian Literature: Rights On!” to establish and support connections between Ukrainian and international publishers, the House of Europe and the Book Arsenal Festival are moving to a new level of cooperation

said Christian Diemer, House of Europe Head of Programme.

How to apply?

Read the information in the call carefully and complete the online form.

Deadline: 12 June 2021 at 24:00 Kyiv time.

The International Book Arsenal Festival has been held annually since 2011 by Mystetskyi Arsenal in its historical building. It is an important intellectual event of Ukraine, where the book, music, performative and visual art scenes interact, important issues of human existence, as well as society and culture, are raised and reflected, prompting the proactive position of the participants and visitors.

The mission of the Book Arsenal Festival is to create such interactions when the combination of aesthetic experience and intellectual engagement in the context of the book enhances the ability of man and society.

House of Europe is an EU-funded programme fostering professional and creative exchange between Ukrainians and their colleagues in EU countries and the UK. The programme focuses on culture and creative industries, education, health, social entrepreneurship, media, and youth.

This encompasses 20+ separate programme lines enabling to go for conferences, professional events, internships, and networking in the EU and the UK, or to enrol in study tours, residencies, trainings, and other forms of support. House of Europe funds cultural coproductions and cooperations between Ukrainian organisations and their counterparts in the EU and the UK, along with the development of cultural infrastructure and artistic concepts for youth in Ukraine. Finally, the programme offers various youth camps and an intra-Ukrainian university exchange.

Yesterday the lockdown was extended and we understand that its end date may be indefinite — the situation with the COVID-19 is threatening. With such instability, it’s impossible to plan such a large-scale event. We understand that we have two options — either to cancel the offline Book Arsenal this year or to try to save the festival. We’ve chosen the second one,

Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, the Mystetskyi Arsenal Director, says.

In June, the Festival will retain its hybrid format: the book fair, curatorial events, awarding the winners of the Best Book Design Contest and the Antytvir Competition will take place offline at Mystetskyi Arsenal. Part of these events will comprise the Book Arsenal Online Program, which can be viewed from anywhere in the world. The Professional Development Programs for publishers and literary managers will be held online, including the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! program, which aims to encourage translation of Ukrainian literature abroad.

Tickets for the 10th International Book Arsenal Festival will be sold exclusively online. The Festival provides for a time slot visiting — you can buy a ticket only for a certain slot and enter Mystetskyi Arsenal at a certain time. This will help avoid queues and crowds, which could be dangerous.

The start of ticket sales, as well as the 10th Book Arsenal program will be announced additionally.

The International Book Arsenal Festival was founded by Mystetskyi Arsenal in 2011 and has been held by the institution since then. Each year, it hosts more than 100 foreign guests, more than 200 publishers and cultural institutions, and more than 55,000 visitors.

In 2019, the International Book Arsenal Festival won The Literary Festival Award of The London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2019. Its mission is to create such interactions between people, communities and institutions, when the combination of aesthetic experience and intellectual engagement in the context of the book enhances the ability of man and society.

The 10th International Book Arsenal Festival was scheduled for May 20-24, 2020, but did not take place due to the pandemic and lockdown.

Mystetskyi Arsenal invites publishers, literary agents, representatives of cultural institutions, and everyone who plans to participate in the 10th International Book Arsenal Festival to the online meeting with Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, director of the Mystetskyi Arsenal, Yuliia Kozlovets, coordinator of the Book Arsenal Festival, and Oksana Khmeliovska, curator of the Professional Development Programs.

The meeting will take place on Friday, February 5, at 11 AM.

To participate, please register till February 4, 8 PM on: https://forms.gle/TUn8huSnWQWJSYQG7. You will be sent a link to the online meeting after your registration.

At the meeting, you will learn about the updated terms of participation, the hybrid format of the Festival, and the new opportunities for book industry experts, which are offered by this year’s Book Arsenal. You will also be able to ask questions to the organizers and get answers to them.

The 10th International Book Arsenal Festival is scheduled for May 26-30, 2021. Applications for the publishers and illustrators’ participation in the fair are to be submitted until February 12. Applications for the participation in event program are to be submitted until February 17.

The updated terms of participation in the Book Arsenal can be read here: https://cutt.ly/NkfZoJ2

Apply for participation in the exhibition fair, in the Festival event program.