Five Ukrainian Books to Share with the World

You do not always need to convince someone that Ukrainian culture deserves attention. Sometimes it is enough to give them an opportunity to discover it.

Ukrainian creator Julia Shved recently shared a practical idea for conversations abroad: keep five Ukrainian books in mind that you can recommend in English. When a discussion about Eastern Europe turns to Russian literature, a Ukrainian recommendation can open another door—without turning the exchange into an argument.

Five Books to Recommend

1. The City by Valerian Pidmohylnyi

Originally published as Misto («Місто»), this landmark modernist novel follows a young man who leaves the countryside for Kyiv. Ambition, identity and the magnetic pull of the modern city shape a story that feels strikingly contemporary.

Read the Ukrainian original online at UkrLib.

2. Cassandra by Lesia Ukrainka

In this dramatic poem, Lesia Ukrainka reimagines the Trojan prophet whose truthful warnings go unheard. Cassandra («Кассандра») is a powerful work about truth, responsibility, power and the loneliness of seeing clearly.

3. Voroshilovgrad by Serhiy Zhadan

Serhiy Zhadan's Voroshilovgrad («Ворошиловград») brings readers to eastern Ukraine through a vivid story of homecoming, loyalty and belonging. Its landscape and characters reveal a Ukraine too rarely encountered in international reading lists.

4. Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzhko

Oksana Zabuzhko's influential novel Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex («Польові дослідження з українського сексу») is an intense exploration of intimacy, language, national history and a woman's struggle to define herself.

5. The Moscoviad by Yuri Andrukhovych

Surreal, satirical and darkly comic, The Moscoviad («Московіада») follows a Ukrainian poet through the decaying imperial centre at the end of the Soviet era. The novel dismantles imperial mythology with wit and imagination.

A Bookshelf Can Be Cultural Diplomacy

As Shved notes, cultural diplomacy does not always require a grand speech. It can begin with a simple response: “If you are interested in this part of Europe, here is a Ukrainian book you should read.”

That act matters even more while Russia's war continues to target Ukraine's cultural life, including publishers, printing facilities, libraries and books. Reading Ukrainian literature—and helping it travel across languages—makes Ukrainian voices harder to erase.

Save this list for your next conversation, share it with a friend, or choose one title for your local book club. Five books are only a beginning.

Help Bring These Books to Darwin Libraries

If a title is not in the local catalogue, City of Darwin Libraries members can suggest it for purchase. Include the title, author, publication year and ISBN where possible. If the suggestion meets the library's collection guidelines and the book is available, the library may order it and place it on hold for you.

For a rare or older title, the library may instead seek an inter-library loan. Interstate inter-library loans currently carry a $33.60 fee, and the library will contact you before proceeding. A suggestion does not guarantee purchase, but several thoughtful requests can help show that readers want Ukrainian literature in the local collection.

Which Ukrainian book would you add as the sixth?

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This article was inspired by a video and reading list shared by Julia Shved. The summaries above were prepared by UAANT for our readers.