Kyiv Book Arsenal Literary Festival Draws Crowds Amid War

The Kyiv Book Arsenal literary festival proceeded in Ukraine's capital despite repeated air-raid alerts and warnings of an imminent Russian attack. The event, held at the 18th-century military arsenal, featured soldier-memoirists, frontline book donations, and discussions on freedom and self-censorship. Deputy culture minister Bohdana Laiuk awarded the prize for best foreign translation of a Ukrainian book to Nina Murray for her English version of Lesia Ukrainka's early-20th-century feminist verse drama, Cassandra. The 8th Air Assault Force ran a coffee stand and collected books for soldiers via an ammo box. Festival programmer Maksym Butkevych, a former prisoner of war, suggested the tagline 'bear your freedom.' Writer Artur Dron' presented his bestselling essay volume Hemingway Knows Nothing. New literary forms emerged, such as Katya Iakovlenko's poetic essay Donbas as a Metaphor. The festival also included book signings, a national slam poetry championship, and workshops. The war pervaded all aspects, with publishers facing rising costs and blackouts. The event underscored a shift in Ukrainian identity away from Russian language and literature.