The Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest trade book fair in the world, has decided to suspend their working relationships with institutions of the Russian Federation. In addition to a nearly 500-year-old tradition of international literary history, the Book Fair acts as a global networking event that allows publishing houses from various countries opportunities for international book sales, deals, and trading. This decision came after receiving an open letter from book organizations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, asking officials of the Frankfurt Book Fair (along with the London and Bologna book fairs) to cut ties with Russia in support of Ukraine.

The director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Juergen Boos, issued the following statement: “The organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair strongly condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine ordered by President Putin. Against the backdrop of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, a violation of international law, the Frankfurt Book Fair is suspending cooperation with the Russian state of institutions in charge of organizing the Russian collective stand at Frankfurter Buchmesse. The Frankfurt Book Fair assures the Ukrainian publishers’ association its full support.”

If you are looking for your own way to show support, The Tompkins Agency for Ukrainian Literature in Translation (TAULT), is asking for their publishing families from around the world to promote and spread translated works of Ukrainian titles around social media. They are also accepting English-language catalogs of Ukrainian presses for their website, which you can send via email to zenia@tault.org