100 Books to Help Understand Ukraine

The list emerges as a response to many requests from foreign libraries, publishing houses, embassies, and institutions that would like to share knowledge about Ukraine with their audiences.

"What are they fighting for?" Unfortunately, even after eleven years of Russia’s war against Ukraine, this question is still asked by those who aren’t closely acquainted with the Ukrainian context. We still have to fight many intellectual battles for our identity, and literature can be an effective weapon – or rather a form of soft power – in this educational mission. Since regaining our independence, many books have been published that explain who we are and what we strive for. The translation market has been revived in the last decade, which created an opportunity for us to address the world with our own literature. An interest in the Ukrainian context has also grown abroad, giving rise to many high-quality (and mostly non-fiction) texts.

Many important and high-quality works have appeared on the global market in the years of independence. It would be impossible to cover all of them in a single review. Still, we have compiled a list of books we would like our friends and partners to read. It emerges as a response to many requests from foreign libraries, publishing houses, embassies, and institutions that would like to share knowledge about Ukraine with their audiences.

100 books from Ukraine or about Ukraine are presented in this selection. They were all published after 1991, were written in different genres, and communicate a wide range of topics. They each represent Ukrainian identity in their own way. Our list focuses on English, German and French translations.

The list of 100 books to help understand Ukraine is available on PEN Ukraine’s website in both English and Ukrainian versions and on the Sensor Media’s website in Ukrainian version. It includes 20 books on history and politics, 23 non-fiction books about culture, 29 fiction books, 11 poetry collections and 17 children’s books.