A Polish Voice at Ukraine’s Largest Literary Festival – Lviv BookForum 2025
The Lviv BookForum is Ukraine’s largest literary festival and one of the most important cultural events in Central and Eastern Europe.
Since 1994, it has brought together writers, translators, publishers, scholars, and literature enthusiasts from all over the world. Over the past three decades, the festival has hosted Olga Tokarczuk, Anne Applebaum, Georgi Gospodinov, Serhiy Zhadan, among many others. It is a space where literature meets debate about identity, history, and the future of the region.
During the 32nd edition of BookForum (October 3–6, 2025), a special Polish block co-organised by the Mieroszewski Centre joined the programme. The theme of the festival was “Resilience and Endurance”, and Polish-Ukrainian dialogues focused on culture, memory, and dignity.
Why did the Mieroszewski Centre engage in Lviv BookForum?
The mission of the Mieroszewski Centre is to build dialogue between Poland and Ukraine and to foster mutual understanding through culture, scholarship, and public debate. The Lviv festival is a meeting place for intellectual elites and the wider public—a space where we can not only present the Polish perspective but also, together with Ukrainian partners, seek answers to questions about the future of our relations. Participation in the Lviv BookForum was an opportunity for the Centre to strengthen the Polish voice at Ukraine’s most important literary event and to deepen dialogue in times of war and transformation.
Programme of Polish debates at the 32nd Lviv BookForum
October 3, 2025, 17:30–18:30 | Museum of Ethnography and Artistic Crafts of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
What past does the future need? On a history that can unite Poles and Ukrainians
A discussion on which elements of shared history can bring both nations closer together and how to interpret the past in ways that support dialogue rather than resentment.
- Łukasz Adamski – historian, Deputy Director of the Mieroszewski Centre
- Natalia Starchenko – historian specializing in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Olha Worozhbyt – foreign policy expert, journalist at Ukrainian Week
October 4, 2025, 16:00–17:00 | Museum of Ethnography and Artistic Crafts of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
“Innocent” content. A conversation on culture and identity
How do Ukrainian authors confront the Soviet legacy of stereotypes? A debate inspired by the anthology “Innocent Content and Other Traps” about how literature, museums, and popular culture function in wartime.
- Katarzyna Kotyńska – translator of Ukrainian literature, professor at Jagiellonian University, Drahoman Prize 2023 laureate
- Natalia Tkachyk – translator, editor of Nowa Polshcha
- Ostap Slyvynsky – Ukrainian poet, essayist, lecturer in Polish literature at Lviv University
- Bohdan Tykholoz – literary scholar, director of the Ivan Franko Museum in Lviv
October 5, 2025, 14:00–15:00 | Main Stage, Palace of Arts
Humanity in the face of war. Conversations on dignity
- Lyudmila Huseynova – human rights activist, head of the NGO “Numo, Sisters!”
- Karolina Sulej – writer, journalist, author of “Personal Belongings”
- Wojciech Tochman – reporter and writer, author of books on the consequences of war, currently working and volunteering in Ukraine
- Zoriana Varenia – journalist and political scientist, editor at Nowa Polshcha
War deprives people of their homes, privacy, and sense of security – but it also puts their humanity to the test. The panel “The Human in the Face of War. Conversations on Dignity” explored how to preserve dignity in a world of violence and chaos.
“Speaking about dignity in the face of violence is extremely difficult, because war brings out both the best and the darkest sides of human nature,” said Wojciech Tochman, emphasizing that his work as a reporter is primarily about listening and bearing witness.
Lyudmila Huseynova, a human rights activist, shared her personal story of imprisonment and torture. “Faith helped me believe that one day everything that happened would be called by its name – that those who suffered would not be forgotten,” she said, highlighting the importance of memory and testimony in rebuilding dignity.
Karolina Sulej reminded the audience that humanity often reveals itself through small gestures and everyday objects. “The things that remain with a person during war become their shelter. They hold memory and identity,” she noted.
Together, the participants concluded that dignity during war becomes both an act of resistance and a tool for survival – a way to preserve oneself when the world tries to dehumanize us.
“War takes everything away – but the way we speak about it can restore meaning and faith in humanity,” concluded Karolina Sulej.
All events took place as part of the 32nd edition of Lviv BookForum (3–5 October 2025).
