The capital will host the Odessa International Literature Festival

Culture unites, and in this field collaboration between states is much easier. The 9th edition of the Odesa International Literature Festival will be hosted by Romania this year, the event will take place between February 22 and 25, at the Goethe-Institut Bucharest headquarters. According to the organizers: "Next month, Bucharest will be the host of the Odesa International Literature Festival, a traditional literary event initiated in 2015 which, due to the war, in the last two years has become an itinerant project: in 2023 it took place in Georgia , in Batumi, and this year it takes place in the Romanian capital''. Thus, between February 22 and 25, at the Goethe-Institut Bucharest headquarters, literature lovers will have the opportunity to meet important names of the contemporary international literary world. Ukrainian writers Iia Kiva, Yuri Vînîciuk and Vasîl Mahno, Philip Sands from Great Britain, Olivier Guez from France, Daniel Kehlmann and Norman Ohler from Germany, Karl-Markus Gauss from Austria, Ariane von Graffenried and Jonas Luscher from Switzerland and Ilaria Gaspari from Italy they will be able to be watched by literature lovers in public readings and debates. They are joined by top names in Romanian literature today, such as Nora Iuga, Dan Sociu, Nichita Danilov and Radu Vancu. The program brings together 19 events that will take place both in the physical presence of the writers and through their online participation. Among the topics covered in this year's edition of the Odessa International Literature Festival are the future of Europe, the freedom of the writer, of writing and the power of words to fight against barbarism, the literary relations between the countries of the Black Sea region, the organizers announce.

Ukrainian literature will be the subject of a worldwide reading on February 24 to mark two years since the outbreak of war. On this occasion, poems signed by the Ukrainian writers Viktoria Amelina and Maksîm Krîvţov, both of whom disappeared during the war, will also be read, the quoted source says. Ulrich Schreiber, co-founder and co-director of the Odesa International Literature Festival said: "I am glad that we can host in Bucharest the 9th edition of the Odesa International Literature Festival, to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine, including through the world reading from February 24, and to support literary relations in the Black Sea region. As in previous years, we managed to attract outstanding writers to the guest list. I am looking forward to the start of the event, especially the opening speech of the writer Radu Vancu, who will talk about the importance of literature, especially in times of war. I would like to thank the Jan Michalski Foundation and the partner cultural institutes, especially the Goethe Institute from Bucharest, the host of the event."

Readings and debates within the festival will take place in English, Ukrainian and Romanian. Public access to the event is free.