The 23rd Vilnius Book Fair became a space to foster freedom and unity

February 23-26 The halls of the Vilnius Exhibition and Congress Center “Litexpo” were filled with thousands of visitors longing for literature, discussions and meetings, they scratched the pages of translated books, literary discussions were held, verses of freedom were written – the 23rd Vilnius Book Fair was held. This year, literature united more than 50 thousand people. visitors, authors, politicians, public figures from Lithuania and other foreign countries, and the most famous Lithuanian performers were invited to the music hall. The theme of the book fair is symbolic – it has become a sign of unity and struggle, special events are mentioned.

Freedom is written in 700 lines

This year is important for Lithuania because Vilnius is celebrating its 700th anniversary. The organizers of the Vilnius Book Fair claim that we cannot understand the context of freedom and war on the anniversary of Vilnius, so the theme of this year’s fair is “700 lines for freedom”. Last year, the beginning of the Book Fair coincided with the beginning of the war in Ukraine. It was on February 24, during the book fair, that this date was mentioned again.

Strong support for Ukraine fighting for freedom was reflected in the theme of the fair, the stands of publishing houses and participants. About 20 events were dedicated to the commemoration of Vilnius, in which discussions were held about the city, its architecture, and literature, which became the basis of the city of Vilnius. Also, like every year, the Vilnius Club prize was awarded, which encourages creating and talking about Vilnius and its history.

Meeting between Lithuania and Ukraine

Vilnius book fair, like every year, lasted for four days, each of them even had its own name. “Suvalkietis” visited the fair on the day with the largest influx of visitors, Saturday, which is probably not without reason named “Dating Day”. And there was definitely someone to meet. According to the organizers of the book fair, it was possible to visit a total of 531 events, meet 180 authors, and 45 guests from abroad. Performers, representatives of Lithuanian cultural centers, etc. settled in the AGATA Music Hall. representatives of music, more than 50 events were held here.

It was revealed that the fair brought together 52 thousand people. book lovers. Since much attention was paid to Ukraine, its culture and literature, the Book Fair was visited by 60 Ukrainian guests. Visitors had the opportunity to meet authors at the stand of the Ukrainian Book Institute and during discussions, and Ukrainians living in Lithuania – to open the pages of books in the Ukrainian language.

According to Rūta Nanartavičiūtė, Head of the Programs and Projects Department of the Lithuanian Institute of Culture, some authors traveled to Vilnius from Ukraine for almost a day, but meeting the anniversary of the war at the Book Fair, they had the opportunity to share their experiences and literature with Lithuania and with Ukrainians who fled the war here. In the hall of young readers, the Union of Women of Officers’ Families of LDK Birutė invited to a creative workshop to weave bracelets, make a traditional hair bow or a Ukrainian doll, and buy handicrafts made by Ukrainian women. The collected funds are allocated to Ukrainian soldiers and their families. Books by Ukrainian authors were also available at the stands of some publishing houses.

The power of words in the face of war

Due to the abundance of events and congestion in the halls, it is simply impossible to visit everything, but I managed to participate in the discussion “The power of people united by books: about the solidarity of Ukrainian and Lithuanian writers”. The event was attended by translators Marius Burokas and Vytas Dekšnys, writer Donatas Petrošius and authors from Ukraine – Andrijus Liubka and Kateryna Michalicyna. The discussion was moderated by Julia Kozlovec, representative of “Book Arsenal” from Ukraine. The authors shared their personal experiences during the war and especially thanked Lithuania for its help and solidarity during this difficult period.

The authors said that Ukrainian writers go on literary tours to collect testimonies about the losses suffered as a result of the aggressor’s invasion of the country, so it can be said that the book is an important tool for recording historical events. Vytas Dekšnys, speaking about the cooperation between our countries, emphasized that since 2014 After the events in Ukraine, the priorities of literature changed: there was an obligation to translate texts from the Ukrainian language, to track information and to publish it in the public space.

Let’s get to know each other’s literature and culture

Translations of books into both Ukrainian and Lithuanian languages ​​are lacking. Few books are published that talk about the history of countries. Lithuanian literature into Ukrainian has been more actively translated and published since 2016, as part of the Lithuanian Institute of Culture project “Lithuania – Ukraine: Cultural Partnership”. The stand of the Ukrainian Book Institute featured books in the Ukrainian language, as well as those translated into Lithuanian. I managed to find books about the history of Lithuania, one of them is “History of Lithuania for Everyone” translated into Ukrainian (“Істория Литві череком”), 2018. published on the occasion of the centenary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state. In the face of the war, more and more books are published in the Ukrainian language or about Ukraine itself.

During the aforementioned discussion, Lithuanian representatives said that previously publishing houses were very reluctant to translate and publish Ukrainian literature and agreed that we do not know enough about Ukrainian culture. When talking about translation trends, the authors admit that there are translated collections of poetry, anthologies, children’s literature has become relatively popular, but there is still room for improvement when translating prose, and there is a lack of a purposeful translation strategy. The war has become a kind of foundation for cultural cooperation, so it needs to be done here and now. Due to the lack of translators, philology studies can also be considered, which would contribute to the impetus in the field of culture. As for the future, it is believed that all this will become a new, broad environment for getting to know new authors and literature, and for cooperation between countries.

The organizers of the Vilnius Book Fair are pleased with the results

This year’s Vilnius Book Fair is special because of the theme that unites readers and nations, the basis of which was important historical events that speak of the importance of freedom and independence. Last year, book lovers returned to Litexpo after the pandemic, but another difficult phase began – the war in Ukraine, which affected not only the warring country, but also the whole world. It is natural that the organizers are worried about the number of visitors, interest in the events, because these events have a great influence on it.

The organizers revealed that the numbers of the pre-pandemic period have not yet been reached, but the results were not disappointing at all. It is also pleasing that the reader has changed somewhat, who has become more aware, more mature, the audience has become younger, visitors who missed the fair actively participated in the events. And indeed, after spending a few hours in this huge event, one can see that cultural events have a great power to unite and bring together many people even in difficult times, and literature to become a symbol of struggle and resistance.

Usually, the theme of next year’s Vilnius Book Fair is announced during the event, but, like last year, this time the curious will again have to wait for information, and the goal set by the organizers is beautiful and hopeful. They, like all of us, hope that next year’s theme will reflect not the war, but everything that happens after it.