Literary freedom for Belarusians

The 17th Minsk International Book Fair will be held on February 9-13. The Ukrainian publishers and book sellers have been taking part in this international exhibition for eight years. They go there not only for people to see and be seen, but also with the pragmatic purpose of selling books. Hence, the Minsk Book Fair is one of the few forums in the post-Soviet space where Ukrainian books are in demand. We remind our readers that about 200,000 Ukrainians live in Belarus, and they have not forgotten the Ukrainian language. There are Ukrainian Sunday schools, and at the language and literature department of the Minsk State University they opened a Ukrainian language sub-department.

This year, despite the economic difficulties, the following Ukrainian publishers are going to participate in the fair: Baltia Druk, Yaroslaviv Val, Kartohrafia, the public corporation The Volynian Regional Publishing House, the closed joint-stock company The Ukrainian Press-Group (within which The Day will present its book series). TD Pocketbook Co Ltd will present an electronic book in Minsk. The State Radio and Television Committee, which provides for the participation of Ukrainian publishers and book sellers in international events, usually prepares the national exhibition of the best books issued by publishers in different forms of ownership from the last two years. This year the Ukrainian exhibition will be composed of 500 editions from about a hundred of Ukrainian publishers. These are the new books by Lina Kostenko, Maria Matios, Yurii Andrukhovych; the books by the classical Ukrainian authors Ivan Bahriany, Bohdan-Ihor Antonych; the social works by Mykhailo Horyn and the historical works by Mykhailo Hrushevsky. There are also numerous popular science editions, encyclopedias, reference books and dictionaries… The special sections in the exhibition are devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Ukrainian Independence and to the Euro-2012.

However, a week before the exhibition opening a group of Ukrainian writers and journalists addressed an open letter to the Head of the State Television and Radio Committee Yurii Plaksiuk demanding to boycott the exhibition in Minsk and to express this way their disagreement with the political regime in the country.

“The pressure and direct persecutions of writers and poets by Lukashenko’s regime cannot leave Ukrainians indifferent,” reads the letter signed by Serhii Zhadan, Vasyl Shkliar, Iren Rozdobudko, Ivan Andrusiak, Anatolii Dnistrovy and others. The writers have also called on all Ukrainian publishers to “express sympathy to those repressed Belarusian artists and to withdraw their books from the exhibition.” The participation of Ukraine in this international forum is first of all conditional on the interests of the publishers, readers and the Belarusian society; for them the Ukrainian books have always been a gulp of freedom, an example of the realization of democratic traditions within society,” says Plaksiuk. “The Ukrainian books, the events for their promotion, are expected by the members of the Ukrainian community. If we don’t live up to their expectations this year, it will mean leaving them in the spiritual vacuum…”

Moreover, the decision about the Ukrainian participation in the international exhibitions is made not by the State Television and Radio Committee, but by the Ukrainian government. The State Television and Radio Committee only performs one of its duties, notably the promotion of Ukrainian books abroad. As for the publishers, none of them has refused to participate in the Minsk Book Exhibition, and none of the writers have withdrawn their books from the Ukrainian exhibition. It doesn’t mean that they approve the freedom of speech violations and they are mute about the persecutions in Belarus. By their presence in Minsk in this difficult time the publishers express their sympathy to the intellectuals and support their courageous position. Who knows, maybe the Ukrainian books brought to Belarus will plant the seeds of freedom in the society of the neighboring country.