The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), together with the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA) and with support from the HUCUS Foundation, announces a new long-term campaign: the Ukrainian Book Challenge. The campaign, designed to spread over social media much like other such viral initiatives, makes a simple but impactful ask: to buy at least one book in English about Ukraine or by a Ukrainian author—at least once a year.
Participants don’t need to read that book right away. They can keep it on their bookshelf, donate it to a public library, or gift it to a friend or colleague. Each purchase sustains translators, editors, and publishers who bring Ukraine’s literature, history, and culture to English-language readers. And participants can always up their challenge—and invite their family, friends, and colleagues to do the same.
“Every book sold is a vote for Ukrainian culture, because what russia’s war on Ukraine is really about is eradicating Ukrainian culture and erasing Ukrainian identity as a result,” said Oleh Kotsyuba, director of publications at HURI, who initiated the campaign. “When readers buy even one book, they make it possible for more Ukrainian authors to be heard—because this way global publishers know that there is sustained interest in such books, and so they can make a safe bet that publishing them won’t cause financial trouble for their business. Hard data like sales numbers is the foundation for decisions all publishers have to make when considering new titles for publication, and participants of this campaign can actively contribute to laying that foundation, one book at a time.”
Launched in December 2025, the campaign turns small individual actions into a collective wave of support. Participants are encouraged to take a selfie or record a short video with their chosen book, post it on their social media, and challenge five friends to do the same using the hashtag #UkrainianBookChallenge.
“I’m urging you to take part in the Ukrainian Book Challenge,” said Timothy Snyder, professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Chair in Modern European History supported by the Temerty Endowment for Ukrainian Studies, and director of the Public History Lab at the University of Toronto. “The challenge is to read, give away, buy for yourself, [and] recommend at least one Ukrainian book this month. One that I can recommend is the novel The City by Valerian Pidmohylnyi—the first novel I read from beginning to end in Ukrainian, way back when I was learning the language. It’s now available in a really good English translation by the great Maxim Tarnawsky from the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute publishers. So, that’s one book—there are so many others that you could choose, but this is a place to start. Please take the challenge,” urged the prominent historian in a video posted by the Ukrainian Book Challenge initiative on its website www.ukrainianbookchallenge.org. The website offers dozens of recently published books on and from Ukraine in English for interested readers to choose from.
Not Just Another Holiday Sales Campaign, or Why It Matters
Publishing Ukrainian books in English is still a fragile effort—translations are expensive, it’s a niche market, and sales remain uncertain. The Ukrainian Book Challenge builds visible, grassroots demand so that publishers can keep saying “yes” to Ukrainian topics, authors, and translators.
Launching this initiative with the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America—a community organization with an over 100-year-long history of supporting awareness campaigns on some of the most crucial issues pertaining to Ukraine—speaks to the strategic character and urgent need for investment in publications from and about Ukraine at this time.
“In the long-term perspective, this initiative goes far beyond solidarity,” said Anna Petelina, National Education Chair at UNWLA. “By buying, reading, and sharing Ukrainian books, Ukrainian-Americans and friends of Ukraine in the US and beyond help elevate Ukrainian voices and contribute to Ukraine’s cultural survival. After all, a book lives on only when someone opens and reads it—similarly, culture needs to be made tangible through engaging with it on an everyday basis if we want it to survive,” she added.
The Ukrainian Book Challenge wouldn’t have been possible without the active and meaningful support from such partners as the HUCUS Foundation that stepped forward to support the campaign.
“The main goal of the HUCUS Foundation is to build bridges between Ukraine and the world,” said Oleksii Prokopenko, CEO at HUCUS Foundation. “Sharing knowledge about Ukraine is perhaps the most effective way of doing that. We believe that it is our duty to history and the future to ensure that the world sees and understands Ukraine as it truly is—a strong and culturally rich country. The Ukrainian Book Challenge is a timely and very much needed initiative to achieve that, we are honored to support it, and we urge you all to take the challenge. As for myself, I already have,” he remarked.
How to Participate
- Everyone who cares about Ukraine and its people is invited to buy at least one book in English about or from Ukraine at least once a year—be it fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or play.
- To spread the word, participants would take a photo or record a short video with the book, post it on their social media, and challenge five friends to do the same.
- When sharing it on social media, the participants would add the hashtag #UkrainianBookChallenge and tag the publisher or recommender of the books (such as UNWLA, HURI Books, or others).
That’s it. One book, one post, one act of solidarity.