Books Galore

Bookworms have a banquet in store this September when the XIV National Book Fair arrives in the Lion City. Some 140 scribes are set to descend on Lviv, a quarter of them foreigners.

Dozens of readings, conferences and presentations are in the pipeline, as well as the hotly contested Book Forum 2007 competition.

Publishing has gone from strength to strength in Ukraine of late - during the last five years the number of books published has increased by 40%. Home-grown talents have scored some hits on the international stage too, not least Andrei Kurkov, whose witty tales of Post-Soviet realities won much praise after they appeared in translation.

Lovers of literature journeying to Lviv will no doubt be intrigued by the unusual authors that have abided in the city in times past. Stanislaw Lem, the king of science fiction, grew up here, as did Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of a number of saucy tales, and inspiration for the word masochism.

The XIV National Book Fair will get underway mid-September.