At the annual Gothenburg Book Fair (Sweden), which will run from 24 to 27 September, three seminars will take place featuring Ukrainian writer Artur Dron, Ostap Ukrainets, poet Iryna Shuvalova, and the Ukrainian-Swedish pianist and founder of the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden, Nataliia Pasichnyk. This is stated in the fair’s programme.
On 24 September, in the talk «Ukraine, the war, and poetry» (Ukraine, the war and poetry), Dron and Shuvalova will discuss Ukrainian literature as well as the current situation and Ukraine’s future, moderated by poet and journalist Cecilia Hansson.
The event will be organised in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden and the publisher Ellerströms Förlag.
On 25 September, in the discussion «Imperial culture and identity machinations» (Imperial culture and identity machinations), Ukrainets, Pasichnyk and Swedish political scientist Fredrik Segerfeldt will talk about new books that explore historical patterns.
“Imperial power is exercised not only through armies and borders, but also through control over culture and identity. For centuries, this has been a recurring feature of Russian imperialist policy – a game in which national cultures are from time to time allowed to flourish, only to be suppressed later. In the 1920s, a new generation of Ukrainian writers, artists and intellectuals emerged, who were later repressed as part of the so-called ‘Executed Renaissance’,” the event description says.
The meeting will be moderated by Rutger Brattström, head of the programme for international market economy at the Swedish think tank Timbro and the author of a number of books.
On 26 September, during the talk «Literary giants of Ukraine: Shevchenko and Ukrainka» (Literary giants of Ukraine: Shevchenko and Ukrainka), Ukrainets, Brattström, writer and translator Nils Håkanson, and writer and literary critic Eva Ström will discuss Ukraine’s cultural heritage and the importance of the struggle for linguistic identity, moderated by journalist Svante Weyler.
Both events will be organised in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden and Timbro.
All meetings will be held in English.
About the Gothenburg Book Fair:
- an annual book event for the Nordic countries;
- founded in 1985 as a conference for librarians;
- now attracts around 85,000 visitors each year.