Kurkov is the most widely translated contemporary Ukrainian writer in the world. His book “Diary of Aggression” was published in Portuguese last year. (Ucrânia: Diário de uma guerra) and immediately made it onto the list of the 40 best books published in Brazil.

As part of the literary festival, Andriy Kurkov had the opportunity to personally present his book and take part in a series of meetings with readers and discussions about literature, memory, and the experience of war.

“Ukraine remains unknown to the outside world. This is because the ‘official history of Ukraine,’ created during the Soviet era, was based on imperial history. It did not tell the truth. And many people and many stories were erased from Ukrainian history,” the writer said. While presenting his book, Kurkov said that at the start of the full-scale invasion, when he heard the first explosion outside his window, he forgot that he was a writer. “To be honest, I think everyone forgot at that moment what they had been doing before.”

He began writing “The Diary of Aggression” when he evacuated with his wife to Uzhhorod: “A woman we didn’t know gave us the keys to her apartment and moved in with her children. That’s where I began writing every day.”

Kurkov recounted a tragicomic story about a conversation with his British publisher that preceded the writing of “The Diary of Aggression”:

“On our way out of Kyiv (in February 2022—Ed.), we got stuck in traffic near Bucha and Gostomel, where fighting was taking place at that very moment. My wife saw a rocket fly over our car. Just then, my British publisher, Christopher McLehose, called and asked, ‘Are you writing about what’s happening yet?’ I replied, ‘Not yet—I’m stuck in traffic.’ He said, ‘You have to, because no one in Europe understands what’s happening in Ukraine.’

The book “Diary of Aggression” was published in English in the United Kingdom in 2022 and translated into Ukrainian in 2023.

The participation of Ukrainian authors in leading literary festivals in Latin America is one of the key tools for developing cultural ties with the region. This opens up new opportunities for translations, international partnerships, and professional dialogue, and helps make contemporary Ukrainian literature more visible to readers, publishers, and cultural institutions in Brazil and other countries in the region.

The writer’s participation was organized by the Ukrainian Institute in partnership with the festival organizers, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federative Republic of Brazil, and Brazilian cultural and literary institutions.