Oleksandr Tkachenko: The world should learn more about our history, culture and present through translated books by Ukrainian authors

On April 23, the world celebrates World Book and Copyright Day. First organised in Catalonia in 1926, the event has been celebrated worldwide since 1996, when it was officially launched by UNESCO. The day marks the deaths of William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as the birthdays of Maurice Druon, Halldór Laxness and Manuel Vallejo. The Ukrainian writer Hryhir Tiutiunnyk was born on the same day.

Today, Ukraine continues to introduce its literature to the world through Ukrainian Bookshelves. The project was initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, and the Ukrainian Book Institute.

“In total, we already have 170 Bookshelves in 37 countries, containing about 44,000 books. I am grateful to our embassies, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ukrainian Book Institute. I am grateful to the Kyiv School of Economics Charitable Foundation for donating 4,000 books to 22 embassies to support the project,” said First Lady Olena Zelenska.

“Our books should appear wherever there are Ukrainians. This will help keep Ukrainians who were forced to go abroad because of the war connected to their homeland. Also, through translated books by Ukrainian authors, the world should learn more about our history, culture and present. We are currently working with international partners to increase the number of high-quality translated Ukrainian literature abroad,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Bookshelf under the patronage of the First Lady of Ukraine has already been opened in 37 countries: Austria, Turkey, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, Greece, Latvia, Finland, Jordan, Croatia, Lebanon, Japan, Belgium, Albania, South Korea, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Norway, Moldova, Qatar, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Portugal, South Africa, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Namibia, North Macedonia, Hungary, Armenia, and Indonesia.