Upcoming events

Vasilisa Stepanenko in conversation with Daniel Pardo @ Hay Festival Querétaro, 5 September 2024

Vasilisa Stepanenko in conversation with Daniel Pardo

Thursday 5 September 2024, 7pm – Teatro de la Ciudad

The Ukrainian Vasilisa Stepanenko, in conversation with the BBC Mundo journalist Daniel Pardo, will talk about 20 Days in Mariupol, a documentary project, co-produced by her, which won an Oscar in 2024. This award-winning work offers a detailed look at the siege which the city experienced, capturing the impact on the population and the devastation caused by the conflict in eastern Ukraine. This is a valuable testimony to the impact of the war on the civilian population, and the resistance of the Ukrainian people.

Queretaro Symphony Orchestra and the pianist Marcela Roggeri in concert @ Hay Festival Querétaro, 5 September 2024

Queretaro Symphony Orchestra and the pianist Marcela Roggeri in concert

Thursday 5 September 2024, 8.30pm – Teatro de la Ciudad

A special concert with the Queretaro Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the Ukrainian Mark Kadin, together with the Argentinian pianist Marcela Roggeri. The programme includes Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Shostakovich’s First Piano Concierto and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.

Tamara Duda in conversation with Juan Carlos Galindo @ Hay Festival Segovia, 14 September 2024

Tamara Duda in conversation with Juan Carlos Galindo

Saturday 14 September 2024, 11.30am – IE University. Sala Capitular

Tamara Duda is a Ukrainian writer, journalist and translator born in Kyiv, and author of two novels. Her literary debut, Daughter, won her the prestigious BBC Book of the Year Award 2019.

With the outbreak of war in the Donbas, she abandoned everything to serve as a volunteer at the front. In 2014 and 2015, she and her husband raised funds and bought and delivered equipment and aid to Ukrainian soldiers. The author spent two years in combat areas and refers to the period as the most tragic, fascinating, intense and inspiring time of her life. The novel chronicles this experience, unfolding in Donetsk during the spring and summer of 2014. The events and stories in the novel are not fictional, but based on the author's experiences and the people she met while volunteering with the Ukrainian Army.

Duda will talk about her experiences in life and as a writer with Juan Carlos Galindo, a journalist for El País, author of the novel Hontoria, and contributor to Onda Cero’s literary talk show.

Adania Shibli and David Olusoga talk to Ayisha Osori @ NBO LitFest, 29 June, 2024

History & homelands. Adania Shibli and David Olusoga with Ayisha Osori

Saturday 29 June 2024, 5pm –  Green Bunk stage. Eastlands Library, Makadara

There’s truth in the African proverb: “Until the lion tells his tale, the hunt will always glorify the hunter”. Conflict and revisionist history result in the systematic destruction of a people, their homes and cultural heritage. In the face of such devastating erasure, the artist is called upon to serve as griot and keeper of names. Sometimes, their mere existence, whether in exile or in their homeland, is enough resistance. Award-winning Palestinian author, Adania Shibli and British historian, writer and filmmaker, David Olusoga OBE explore their memories of home.

Sofia Cheliak, Sasha Dovzhyk and Olesya Khromeychuk talk to Peter Pomerantsev @ Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, 26 May 2024

What's going on in Ukraine? Sofia Cheliak, Sasha Dovzhyk and Olesya Khromeychuk talk to Peter Pomerantsev

Sunday 26 May 2024, 5.30pm –  Wye Stage

It has now been more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the conflict is still ongoing, even though it garners fewer headlines than it used to. Writers Sofia Cheliak, Sasha Dovzhyk and Olesya Khromeychuk discuss what is happening currently in Ukraine, how to keep documenting the war and how to combat propaganda that undermines the war effort. Cheliak, Dovzhyk and Khromeychuk are all contributors to the book Ukraine Lab: Global Security, Environment, Disinformation through the Prism of Ukraine: 39 (Ukrainian Voices). They talk to journalist and author Peter Pomerantsev.

Norma Percy, Oleksii Réznikov and Tim Stirzaker talk to Misha Glenny @ Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, 27 May, 2024

Putin vs the West: At War. Norma Percy, Oleksii Réznikov and Tim Stirzaker talk to Misha Glenny

Monday 27 May 2024, 11.30am – Global Stage

American filmmaker Norma Percy’s documentary series Putin vs the West aired a second series this year. At War looks at the first year of the full-scale war in Ukraine, through the eyes of the Presidents and Prime Ministers who had to deal with it, including Volodymyr Zelensky, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, the head of the CIA and the UN Secretary General.

Producer Norma Percy, former Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksii Réznikov and the director of the series Tim Stirzaker discuss the show and what is happening in Ukraine with investigative journalist Misha Glenny.

Andrey Kurkov talks to Daniel Hahn @ Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, 30 May, 2024

The Silver Bone. Andrey Kurkov talks to Daniel Hahn

Thursday 30 May 2024, 5.30pm – Wye Stage

Ukraine’s most celebrated novelist transports us to early 20th-century Kyiv during the turmoil following the Russian Revolution, with his new book The Silver Bone. This mystery introduces rookie detective Samson Kolechko in Kyiv as he tackles his first case, involving two murders, a long bone made of pure silver and a suit of decidedly unusual proportions tailored from fine English cloth. Inflected with Kurkov’s (Death and the Penguin) signature humour and magical realism, the novel takes inspiration from the archives of crime enforcement agencies in Kyiv, crafting a propulsive narrative with rich historical detail. Kurkov talks to writer and editor Daniel Hahn.

Viv Groskop @ Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, 31 May, 2024

One Ukrainian Summer. Viv Groskop

Friday 31 May 2024, 8.30pm – Spring Stage

The comedian, playwright and broadcaster shares stories from her memoir, One Ukrainian Summer, about coming of age in the former USSR. It’s 1993, Viv is about to turn 21 and is on a study year abroad, supposedly immersed in the language, history and politics of a world that has just ceased to exist: the Soviet Union. Instead, she is immersed in Bogdan Bogdanovich, lead guitarist of a Ukrainian punk rock band. They meet in St Petersburg, where he promises that if she can get through a Russian winter, he will give her “one Ukrainian summer”. At parties, gigs and bars, Groskop and her new friends argue over the best places to find Levi’s jeans. No one debates the precise location of the border or the brightness of the future. Good times are here to stay, because the Soviet Union is finished. Isn’t it?

OLESYA KHROMEYCHUK @ Jaipur Literature Festival, India, February 2024

The Dogs of war. Anjan Sundaram, Olesya Khromeychuk , Antony Loewenstein and Shivshankar Menon in conversation with Praveen Swami

The territorial imperative drives most species on the planet. Aggression is wired into the human psyche; the hotspots of war and violence in Russia/Ukraine and Israel/Palestine stand testament to irrationality and violence. An engaged panel discusses the whys and wherefores of these conflicts and how reason, rationality and peace could prevail.

Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias 2024 @ January 25-28

Celebrating Victoria Amelina: Dom's Dream Kingdom. Héctor Abad Faciolince, Volodymyr Yermolenko and José Manuel Cajigas in conversation with Catalina Gómez Ángel

On June 27th, a Russian missile struck the Ria pizzeria in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, leading to the death of the war crimes researcher and writer Victoria Amelina (Ukraine). Her tragic demise coincided with the release of the Spanish version of her book Dom's Dream Kingdom ('Un hogar para Dom'), published by Avizor with a prologue by Hector Abad Faciolince —sadly, a moment she never got to witness. This novel, depicting the lives of three generations of a family led by an old Soviet pilot and war veteran settled in Lviv, a city that was once one of Europe's major cultural centers, had established Amelina as one of the finest Ukrainian writers of the new generation. Héctor Abad Faciolince, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Avizor's editor José Manuel Cajigas, and journalist Catalina Gómez Ángel, a friend of the author, will discuss this book.

Serhii Plokhy in conversation with Juan Carlos Flórez

The Ukrainian historian Serhii Plohky lectures in East European History at the University of Harvard and is the author of several books, including the successful Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe (2018)–which covers the famous nuclear accident of 1986, an incident that the author himself survived. His most recent book, The Russo-Ukrainian War, analyses the events around the biggest European conflict since the Second World War. For outsiders, the 22nd of February 2022 –the day Russia invaded Ukraine– marked the beginning of this war, but there are deeper roots: a failed invasion attempt in 2014 that created a climate of geopolitical tension that has taken the world back to the Cold War period. The author also returns to the times of the Iron Curtain and explores the legacy of the Soviet approach, one that continues to be in operation today. In conversation with Juan Carlos Flórez.

Let’s talk about Ukraine. Catalina Gómez Ángel, Juanita León, Volodymyr Yermolenko and Serhii Plokhy in conversation with Sergio Jaramillo

The human, political, economic, environmental and social consequences of the war in the Ukraine are devastating. What solutions and what future await the European country? Catalina Gómez Ángel (Colombia), Juanita León (Colombia) and Volodymyr Yermolenko and Serhii Plokhy from Ukraine will be in conversation with Sergio Jaramillo.

Hay Festival Arequipa @ November 11

Thinking about the Ukraine. Lindsey Hilsum and Henry Marsh in conversation with Emma Graham-Harrison

At this event with the British journalist Emma Graham-Harrison, a doctor and a war correspondent will talk about the present conflict, whose repercussions go beyond the borders of countries and continents. Lindsey Hilsum (United Kingdom) has reported on conflicts and refugee movements in Syria, Mali, Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Kosovo, Afghanistan and, of course, Ukraine.Henry Marsh (United Kingdom) is a renowned former neurosurgeon and author of publishing successes such as Do No Harm and the more recent And Finally. Matters of Life and Death, which tells the story of his experiences as a cancer patient. With a long career in the profession, Henry Marsh is known for having supported the development and practice of neuroscience in the Ukraine.

OKSANA KUTSENKO @ Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, 14 October 2023

Writers Project of Accra, Ghana

Goethe-Institut/Munchen

Hay Festival Lviv BookForum series: Translations: The truth of the matter. With Ray Ndebi, Oksana Kutsenko, Johnson Asunka

Goethe-Institut/

Hay Festival Lviv BookForum series: Writing for young readers. With Elizabeth-Irene Baitie, Nii Lante Lamptey, Oksana Kutsenko and Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Goethe-Institut/Munchen

Selected Readings (Poetry). With Yeow Kai Chai, Oksana Kutsenko and Efe Paul Azino

KATERYNA KALYTKO @ Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, 14 October 2023

Writers Project of Accra, Ghana

Goethe-Institut/Library

Hay Festival Lviv BookForum series: "Writing in Times of Conflict". Orthniel Forte, Kateryna Kalytko.

Goethe-Institut/TBC

Hay Festival Lviv BookForum series: "The Long and the Short of It". Selected readings and perspectives on the short story genre. Martin Egblewogbe, Kateryna Kalytko, and Tristan Hughes

Goethe-Institut/Library

Selected Readings (Poetry) with Kateryna Kalytko

Hay Festival Segovia 2024 @ September 17

Letters to Ukraine. Yuri Andrukhovych and Andrey Kurkov in conversation with María Sahuquillo

Yuri Andrukhovych is one of the most singular figures in European narrative in recent years. Novelist, poet, essayist and translator, in his new book Small Encyclopedia of Intimate Cities, he uses his unique flair for uncovering the different among the obvious as he maps life in 39 cities, all scenes of historical events. Andrey Kurkov, recently awarded the Médicis Étranger prize in France, began a diary when the first Russian rockets fell on Kiev on 24 February 2022. In Diary of an Invasion, he recounts the horrifying impact of the conflict through a personal chronicle, which is also an astonishing account of Ukrainian identity and the daily lives of his compatriots. Both will discuss their latest books and the current circumstances with María Sahuquillo, El País correspondent in Brussels.

Hay Festival Querétaro 2023 @ September 7-8 2023

Victoria Belim in conversation with Eduardo de la Garma de la Rosa and Alejandra Martínez Quesada

Journalist, writer and Farsi-language translator. Victoria Belim (Ukraine) grew up in the United States and currently lives in Belgium. She speaks 20 languages, including Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian. Her literary debut is entitled The Rooster House (2023) and is a work of memoire, told as a novel, about Vika, a woman who returns to the Ukraine of her birth to investigate the death of her great-great uncle in the 1930s. It is an exploration of the history of a country marked by conflict and devastation, one with a new war just beginning. Belim narrates this story, which is about both a family and a nation, in prose that is captivating, mysterious and beautiful. In conversation with Eduardo de la Garma de la Rosa and Alejandra Martínez Quesada.

Screening of The Earth Is Blue as an Orange by Iryna Tsilyk, followed by a discussion with the director and Blanmi Núñez

The writer and filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine) is a graduate of the National University of Theatre, Film and TV in Kiev, and is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction and children’s literature as well as the creator of several documentary and fiction short films. She presents her first feature-length documentary, The Earth is Blue as an Orange (2020), winner of the Director’s Award in the World Cinema Documentary category at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, about the experience of a civilian family living in war-torn Donbas, Ukraine, and their relationship with art and the creative process. She will talk to Banmi Núñez.

Victoria Belim in conversation with Yael Weiss

Journalist, writer and Farsi-language translator. Victoria Belim (Ukraine) grew up in the United States and currently lives in Belgium. She speaks 20 languages, including Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian. Her literary debut is entitled The Rooster House (2023) and is a work of memoire, told as a novel, about Vika, a woman who returns to the Ukraine of her birth to investigate the death of her great-great uncle in the 1930s. It is an exploration of the history of a country marked by conflict and devastation, one with a new war just beginning. Belim narrates this story, which is about both a family and a nation, in prose that is captivating, mysterious and beautiful. In conversation with Yael Weiss.

Hay Festival 2023 @ 1-3 June 2023

Grigory Semenchuk, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Sascha Conrad. Landschaft: Multilingual Landscapes

Spoken word collective Landschaft blend multilingual poems with hip hop, electropunk and video art. This trio – Grigory Semenchuk (Ukrainian), Ulrike Almut Sandig and Sascha Conrad (both German) – present an exhilarating fusion of techno, poetry and film that crosses language boundaries. No German or Ukrainian required.

Oleksandra Matviichuk in conversation with Charlotte Higgins

Oleksandra Matviichuk is a human rights lawyer, activist and director of the Centre for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize together with the Russian human rights organisation, Memorial, and Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski. Matviichuk and the Centre have fought for democracy in Ukraine since 2007 and are now part of a ground-breaking international effort to ensure accountability for war crimes. In her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, she reminded the world that, “We don’t have to be Ukrainians to support Ukraine. It is enough just to be humans.” She talks to the Guardian’s chief culture writer.

You Don't Know What War Is. Yeva Skalietska in conversation with Claire Armitstead

You Don't Know What War Is is the powerfully moving true story of a young girl fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. The gripping and urgent diary of refugee Yeva Skalietska, it follows twelve days that changed 12-year-old Yeva’s life forever.

She was woken in the early hours to the terrifying sounds of shelling. Russia had invaded Ukraine, and her beloved Kharkiv home was no longer the safe haven it should have been. It was while she and her granny were forced to seek shelter in a damp, cramped basement that Yeva decided to write down her story.

Yeva shares what is happening hour-by-hour as she seeks safety and travels from Kharkiv to Dublin, where she now lives. Giving a powerful insight into what conflict is like through the eyes of a child, this is an essential event for older children and adults alike. She talks to Claire Armitstead.

Identities. Victoria Belim and Kevin Jared Hosein in conversation with Rosie Goldsmith

Belim’s moving memoir The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Memoir is a tale of identity and post-Soviet reality told across four generations, as a young woman searches for traces of her great-uncle who disappeared during the 1930s. Kevin Jared Hosein, winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, is author of Hungry Ghosts, a novel about violence, religion, family and class, rooted in the wild and pastoral landscape of 1940s colonial central Trinidad. Both use writing to deal with complicated issues linked with identity, colonialism and class struggles. They talk to Rosie Goldsmith, journalist and Director of the European Literature Network.

Documenting the War. Oleksandra Matviichuk, Halyna Kruk and Serhiy Zhadan in conversation with Toby Lichtig

Ukrainian writers currently experiencing the war in Ukraine first-hand and grappling with its impact, meaning and consequences discuss how you begin to process and write about the devastation conflict brings. Oleksandra Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human rights lawyer who heads the non-profit organization Centre for Civil Liberties that was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. Halyna Kruk is a poet, fiction writer and scholar of Ukrainian medieval literature, who has authored four books of poetry and collected some of Ukraine’s top awards for young poets. Serhiy Zhadan is a poet, writer, translator and winner of last year’s European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Literature Prize for his novel The Orphanage. They talk to Toby Lichtig, fiction and politics editor of The TLS.

Zhadan and The Dogs in concert

Six-member ska ensemble Zhadan and the Dogs is a band that defines the musical scene of Eastern Ukraine. Their two-decade long career includes two acclaimed studio albums. Join them for a night of dance, good music and songs that will make you think and feel.

Hong Kong International Literary Festival @ March 12, 2023

How can we tell the truth to children and make it Bearable? Studio Agrafka, Chris Cheng & Zeno Sworder