Baltic States – CIS, Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Lithuania

The theme of one of the largest cultural events in Lithuania, held for the 17th time this year, will be "Character in Search of an Author." Around 330 participants from eight countries are expected at the fair this year, with over 30 participants coming from abroad.

According to the fair's organizers, the largest stand will be devoted to Ukrainian creators and will introduce 15 publishing houses and 11 Ukrainian writers and illustrators.

"It's not the first fair when we speak about Ukraine. After the ongoing events started in Ukraine, we paid a lot of attention to this issue. We just have friendly relations and we've long been friends with the Lviv Book Forum and with Ukrainian publishers," said Milda Gembickiene, one of the organizers of the fair and a representative of the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre LITEXPO.

Among the 35 foreign guests will also be several world-renowned creators, for example, Ukrainian writer and journalist, author of Ukraine Diaries Andrey Kurkov. He is one of the most translated Ukrainian authors.

Readers will also have a chance to meet with British writer Lucinda Riley, the author of the seven Sisters series, as well as Russian poet and prosaist Marina Stepnova, the author of The Women of Lazarus novel.

"Marina is interesting for those who don’t believe you cannot understand Russia with your mind, and that is an opportunity to learn Russia's mentality," Lolita Varanaviciene, president of the Lithuanian Publishers Association, told a press conference in Vilnius on Thursday.

Vilnius will host the book fair on Feb. 25-28 at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre LITEXPO.