Lviv BookForum 2024

How countries from the former Warsaw bloc joined the myth of Europe, how the collapse of the Soviet Union affected the self-identification of Western European countries, how migration from other continents affected the European myth. And where exactly is the center of Europe. Krzysztof Czyżewski is a Polish author, one of the initiators of the Borderland Foundation in Sejny, Poland; Tomica Bajsić is a poet, writer and illustrator. Chaired by cultural critic and translator Kateryna Botanova and Halyna Kruk.

Krzysztof Czyżewski will join the event digitally

A discussion on the nature of genocides in history from Biblical times to Darfur; the tragedy of Babyn Yar as a worldwide symbol of the Holocaust, genocidal practices of Russia in the modern war against Ukraine. What do we know and how do we remember genocides in world history? How is the memory of the Holodomor ('death by hunger' in Ukraine in 1932/33) erased in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia, and why should these practices be considered as one part of genocide? Why is it important for modern Ukraine to preserve the memory of the past genocides?

Norman Naimark is an American historian, author of Genocide: A World History; Lyudmila Hrynevych is a director of the Holodomor Research and Education Committee; Vladyslav Hrynevych's book is Babyn Yar: History and Memory; American professor Paul Robert Magocsi is Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto; Igor Shchupak is director of the Tkuma Ukrainian Holocaust Research Institute and Yehor Vradii is assistant director.

Norman Naimark will join the event digitally.

A conversation on the newly translated book The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed. Mstyslav Chernov, the Oscar-winning director of 20 Days in Mariupol, says: “Mykhed tackles the immense challenge of finding a language that can convey the horror and absurdity of war, and he does so with devastating impact. Mykhed skillfully assembles recollections, anecdotes, portraits, and conversations alongside a catalogue of war crimes, creating a uniquely powerful account of what has happened to Ukraine since February 2022. Both deeply personal and universally significant, this book should be required reading for all.” Chaired by the Guardian's senior international affairs correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison.

What causes empires to fall, can they fall without casualties, and which are the modern empires? Natalia Kryvda is a philosopher and a director of Academic Programmes at Edinburgh Business School Eastern Europe; James Alan Robinson is a British economist and political scientist, Vakhtang Kebuladze is a philosopher, writer and translator; Oleksandr Komarov is a philosopher currently working on the frontline giving psychological support to Ukrainian service men and women; Adrian Karatnycky is author of Battleground Ukraine: From Independence to the War with Russia. Chaired by British investigative journalist Oliver Bullough.

Oliver Bullough, Adrian Karatnycky and James Alan Robinson will join the event digitally.

What path should be chosen by one group that has long been subordinated to another, stronger one? Is the cancel culture the only way to break free from the domination of the aggressor?. And what if this aggressor is an empire?

A discussion on how we make sense of the post-imperial heritage, and whether it is necessary to renounce it, with the Dutch writer Simone Atangana Bekono, Indian literary critic and feminist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; Brazilian feminist philosopher and journalist Djamila Ribeiro; Nigerian writer and activist Lola Shoneyin; and Ukrainian philosopher and writer Oksana Zabuzhko. Chaired by philosopher Vakhtanh Kebuladze.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Djamila Ribeiro, Simone Atangana Bekono and Lola Shoneyin will join the event digitally.