News
Ukrainian translators of literature can count on us today on a very practical level. We have started accommodating them in the rooms that the Book Institute has at its disposal, and we are also commissioning translations of Polish literature to keep them occupied and distract them from the horror of war.
In view of the crimes in Ukraine, we wish to express our solidarity with all its citizens. Our thoughts are especially with Ukrainian creators, people of culture, writers, and translators of literature - those without whom no civilised nation can survive and develop.
Ukrainian authors, including translators of literature, can now also count on us on a very practical level. The Book Institute has prepared concrete solutions, including using its long-running residency and scholarship programmes. We have already established direct contact with people who may need this kind of support, we provide quick and tangible help, providing the conditions necessary to function and work. We cannot disclose details for security reasons, but the first translator has already arrived safely and is using a room at the Translators' Collegium in Krakow to work on her translation as part of our scholarship programme.
The Book Institute has been cooperating with Ukrainian translators and publishing houses for years - consistently supporting translations into Ukrainian within the framework of the ©Poland Translation Programme. To date, the Institute has helped to publish more than 230 translations. In no other country has there been so much support for releases from the Book Institute. As part of the programme, works by classics (Sienkiewicz, Wyspianski), contemporary writers (Różewicz, Szymborska, Tokarczuk), as well as books promoting good neighbourly relations and common history were translated and published.
Ukraine is a very important partner for us - for years, we have regularly made an annual appearance with a Polish stand at the Book Forum in Lviv. This year, in May, for the first time ever, the Book Institute planned a rich programme with the participation of Polish writers, illustrators, and graphic designers at the International Book Arsenal Festival. We still believe in the possibility of going to Kiev, the capital of a free, democratic, and sovereign Ukraine.