Ukrainian Publisher launched Adam Mansbach’s Go the Fuck to Sleep, amidst daily bombardment and the destruction of the North East city of Kharkiv.
The Ukrainian book industry is pressing on, with Kharkiv-based Vivat Publishing House miraculously holding a book launch of the Ukrainian translation of Adam Mansbach’s Go the Fuck to Sleep earlier this month in the city.
Author Sergiy Zhadan, who translated the book, shared a reading from the book on the night, and also delighted those tuning in with a performance of a new song inspired by the book itself. In a collaboration alongside the Kharkiv musical group Selo i Ludy, Vivat held a live broadcast via the Vivat publishing house website to help to raise money for the needs of the Ukrainian people.
“I like that this presentation is taking place in Kharkiv. Even in the basement, it is still our Ukrainian Kharkiv, our literary life. We will then leave the basements of bookstores and sports palaces, where we will gather millions of readers,” – shared Zhadan during the performance.
Julia Orlova, the CEO of Vivat publishing house, who spoke with Publishers Weekly recently, shared that many employees were working remotely, and noted that “accessing highspeed internet was perhaps not the least of their problems. Colleagues are split, to say the least, with some of their employees volunteering in the Ukrainian Defence Forces, and others not only working from basements and bomb shelters but even on the road.”
Further commenting on the current situation, Orlova noted that “the first book presentation during the war should show the whole world the indomitability of Ukrainians, who are able to organise book presentations even in such conditions.”
Ukraine's Vivat Publishing House Fights to Survive https://t.co/bKGhjAnhnm pic.twitter.com/pNSLqqiwxq
— Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) March 21, 2022
Go the Fuck to Sleep is a storybook for parents, inspired by Mansbach’s many exhausting and exasperating failed attempts to get his then 3-year-old daughter to go to sleep. Mansbach’s 2011 bestseller deals with the stresses of nighttime when a cute little bedtime story just doesn’t cut it –note to parents, this one is definitely not for kids! Mansbach, himself, has shown solidarity and support for Ukraine, posting a make-over to his bestselling cover art.
To listen to an audio reading featuring the one and only Samuel L Jackson, which is crazy good, check out the video below.
To support the Ukrainian publishing industry, and to send books to where they are most needed head over to The Old Lion Publishing House.
