Video and photos: UJE, Magocsi, Simons and Davidzon at the London Book Fair

Ukraine again showcased its rich literary and cultural heritage at the 2023 London Book Fair, following the impressive presentation by the country’s contemporary publishers at the Frankfurt book fair last October. Held at London’s Olympia exhibition hall from 18-20 April, the Ukraine country stand in London drew a steady stream of visitors impressed by the large selection of books by Ukrainian publishers, including several in English, despite the many industry challenges posed by Russia’s criminal war against Ukraine.

As in Frankfurt, the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter was a sponsor of the Ukraine stand.

The organization displayed many of the publications it has supported over the years, including a copy of the forthcoming Babyn Yar: History and Memory. Co-edited by Paul Robert Magocsi and Vladyslav Hrynevych, Sr., the collection of essays by leading Ukrainian and international scholars explores an array of subjects related to the history and memory of Babyn Yar, a central symbol of the Holocaust. The University of Toronto Press will distribute the book for the Chair of Ukrainian Studies. The book can be ordered through the press.

Additionally, UJE organized a panel discussion related to the war in Ukraine. Below is a video of the talk and photos from London’s important literary festival.

Panel discussion: Ukrainians, Jews, and War, London Book Fair, 18 April 2023

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 shocked the world. Russian leader Vladimir Putin used the ‘de-Nazification’ of the country as the war’s excuse, an absurdity considering Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew, won the Ukrainian presidency in a landslide victory in 2019. In the year since the war began, Ukrainians, Jews, and other nationalities have fought together on the battlefield and in the global civic space, resoundingly refuting Putin’s mythmaking. In a wide-ranging discussion held at the London Book Fair on 18 April 2023, Canadian historian and UJE Board Member Paul Robert Magocsi and American journalist Vladislav Davidzon discussed with Britain’s Jake Wallis Simons, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, the current and past relationship between Ukrainians and Jews in forming a new political state.