This year, Ukraine will be the guest of honour at the 24th Pisa Book Festival, which will run from 2 to 4 October at the Arsenali Repubblicani. This is stated on the festival’s website.
Andrii Kurkov will speak at the opening ceremony. The programme will also include events featuring him, as well as the writers Yaryna Hrusha and Olena Kostiukovych, and the philologist Olena Ponomareva.
On 2 October at 18:00, Kurkov will launch the “Voices from Ukraine” series of talks with a presentation of his book “Our Daily War” (La nostra guerra quotidiana), with Professor Massimo Tria and Professor Francesca Lazzarin taking part.
According to the description, in the book the author recounts the lives and thoughts of his compatriots against the backdrop of Russian aggression, the constant stress caused by shelling, the deportation of citizens from occupied regions, and suspicions of corruption in government.
The Italian translation of “Our Daily War” from English, produced by Elisabetta Venturini, has been published by Keller Editore.
That same day at 15:00, Ponomareva will give readings of Ukrainian wartime poetry, “Letters from Donbas: Voices and Faces of War in Ukraine”.
On 3 October at 12:00, Kostiukovych will present her book “Kyiv: A Fortress Above the Abyss”.
As the description notes, the work weaves together family memories, literary allusions and historical facts to portray Kyiv as a place where every era leaves its traces. Streets, hills and squares become the stage for dramatic events—from imperial times to today’s wars. The author explains what the Kyiv of her childhood has become for her after Ukraine turned into a fortress of the free world in its stand against the barbarism and savage aggression of an authoritarian neighbouring invader.
The Italian original of the book was published by La nave di Teseo.
At 17:00, Yaryna Hrusha will present her debut novel “The Blue Album”.
“The Blue Album” tells a story that begins after the Chornobyl disaster and follows Yaryna’s coming of age against the backdrop of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity. At the heart of the plot are the author’s childhood memories of these events.
The work is written in Italian. It was published by Bompiani.
In addition, the Ukraine-focused programme will be complemented by an exhibition of Ukrainian illustrators, “Yellow & Blue” (Yellow and blue), which will run from 1 October to 10 January 2027 at the Palazzo Blu museum.
The Ukrainian programme within the festival has been created under the patronage of the Embassy of Ukraine in Italy.
About the Pisa Book Festival:
- a national Italian festival of independent publishing;
- the festival hosts a competition for translated books by independent publishers, the Pisa Book Translation Awards;
- this year’s central theme of the festival is sport;
- this year the festival is organised by the ETS Pisa Book Festival Association with the support of the Tuscany region, the Municipality of Pisa, and with a significant contribution from Fondazione Pisa. The event also takes place in cooperation with the Musei Nazionali di Pisa, Palazzo Blu and the University of Pisa, under the patronage of ADEI and the Embassy of Ukraine in Italy, and with the support of Acque S.p.A., Camera di Commercio Toscana Nord-Ovest, CNA and Banca Popolare di Lajatico.