Book Country Returns in a New Format: Over 40 Events to Be Held in Kyiv
The “Book Country” Festival, which was postponed until spring due to the deteriorating security situation in the capital, will hold a series of events in Kyiv titled “Book Country Days.”
The program includes meetings with authors, new book presentations, literary discussions, talks on specific genres and publications, as well as a concert.
The “Book Country” festival was originally scheduled to take place September 17–20 at the VDNG, but it was postponed to April due to intensified Russian shelling of Kyiv. However, some of the events originally planned for the festival will take place on September 18, 19, and 20 at the bookstores Readeat, “Nash Format,” “Knyharnya Ye,” “KnygoLand,” “VSL,” Book.ua, and Book.ua Space at VDNG.
The program includes meetings with authors, presentations of new releases, literary discussions, talks about genres and specific books, as well as a concert. Admission to all events is free. The full program is available on the “Book Country” website.
As festival director Alla Rybitska explained in a comment to “Chytomo,” events for the new program were selected based on three criteria: safety, the possibility of holding the event outside the VDNG, and the readiness of organizers and participants.
“For the first time, our events are spread throughout the city. The situation forced us to do this, but the format turned out to be truly interesting: a distributed program with a joint guide that allows you to plan your own three-day itinerary. For us, this is an experiment, and we hope that ‘Book Country Days’ will provide support to both publishers and readers,” she emphasized.
At the same time, according to Alla Rybitska, “Book Country Days” does not replace the festival itself:
“We’re definitely bringing back everything we prepared for ‘Zagadkova’—that story hasn’t gone anywhere; it’s just biding its time. However, we’ll be holding over forty events right now, so the April program will inevitably be updated.”
Key Events by Day
September 18 (Wednesday):
- Readeat: A discussion titled “Who’s the Real Monster Here?” featuring blogger Anna Severin and B&H Film Distribution representative Maryana Ivanchikhina on the psychology of the characters ahead of the premiere of the film “Verity,” based on the novel by Colleen Hoover.
- “BookLand”: Bunny Horror Show performance and a discussion of Mona Awad’s novels *Bunny* and *We Love You, Bunny* (speakers: writer Serafima Bila and literary scholar Bohdana Romantsova).
- Book.ua Space (VDNG): “On the Quiet” chamber concert featuring Tetiana Goncharova, librettist Mykola Brovchenko, and sound producer Kostiantyn Ionenko.
September 19
- Book Bloggers’ Award Ceremony: Announcement of the Most Talked-About Translated Book of 2025–2026. Nominees include *The Poisoned Chalice* by Robert Jackson Bennett, *Devils* by Joe Abercrombie, *A Thousand Splendid Suns* by Khaled Hosseini, *Catabasis* by Rebecca Kwan, and *The Water Covenant* by Abraham Vergis.
- Various venues: Discussions on Ukrainian fantasy, the legacy of Sofia Yablonska, a presentation of Anastasia Bidonko’s debut book *Look for the Path from Under the Mountain*, and Artem Chapay’s new collection *T-Happiness*.
- VDNG: A conversation about Serhiy Kuzminsky and the band “Braty Hadyukiny” (Lesya Antypenko and Yuriy Roketsky).
- Readeat (on Antonovych Street): A discussion on the history of the Turkic peoples of the South Caucasus based on the book *A Vanished Civilization: An Unnoticed Catastrophe*.
- “KnygoLand”: Presentation of Nasha Idea Publishing’s first light novel—“My Happy Marriage.”
September 20
- Presentations and Discussions: A discussion of gothic literature, a presentation of Natalka Didenko’s book *A Meteorologist’s Notes*, a conversation about Morgan Moncomble’s novel *One Autumn to Forgive You*, and a meeting with Mykhailo Brynykh.
- Book.ua Space: Discussion on the phenomenon of Ruby Dixon’s “Barbarians of the Ice Planet” series at Booktoka.
- “Bookstore Ye”: A meeting with Ukrainian authors Marina Nitsel, Vlada Mari, and Anastasia-Marta Salabai about creating fantasy worlds.
About the “Book Country” Festival
“Book Country” has been held at VDNG in Kyiv since 2024. Over 270,000 people attended the previous five seasons. This year’s spring festival drew over 71,000 guests. Over the course of four days, more than 500 events took place at VDNG, featuring approximately 200 publishers, bookstores, independent authors, and charitable organizations.
This was reported by the festival organizers.
As a reminder, a proposal was made to remove some Soviet symbols from VDNG.
Literary Spring at VDNG: How the “Book Country” 2026 Festival Went.
The “Book Country” festival took place in Kyiv: here’s how it went.
“Book Country” at VDNG: 5 Books from the Shortlist Worth Reading.
