First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska visited the 14th Book Arsenal Festival at Mystetskyi Arsenal.
“Book Arsenal continues during the full-scale invasion, and this is no less important for society’s resilience than countless special therapies. Literature repays its readers by helping them endure,” the President’s wife noted.
This year, more than 150 participants will take part in the Book Arsenal Festival, including renowned guests, opinion leaders, acclaimed authors, and emerging voices. The program features discussions, lectures, readings, workshops, meetings with writers, presentations of new publications, as well as music and performance programs and exhibitions.
The focus theme of this year’s Book Arsenal is “To Bear Your Freedom.” Its curator is Ukrainian journalist, human rights advocate, serviceman, and former prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych.
This year, Book Arsenal also marks the return of the Writers’ Program, curated by Ukrainian warrior, volunteer, poet, novelist, and translator Andriy Lyubka.
Together with the Director General of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, and the Director of the 14th Book Arsenal, Yuliia Kozlovets, the First Lady explored the latest releases from publishing houses and spoke about the books she had purchased.
Among them were “Hemingway Knows Nothing” by Artur Dron, “The Triangle of Power: Rebalancing the New World Order” by President of Finland Alexander Stubb, and “Narratives of Mass Destruction: Tactics and Strategies of Information Warfare” by Artem Zakharchenko.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on a working visit to Sweden today and, therefore, was unable to attend the Book Arsenal Festival. However, the Head of State selected “1913: Summer of the Century” by Florian Illies and “Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.” by Ryan Holiday, which he presented to the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson.
The President’s wife also donated a purchased book to Ukrainian defenders.