Literature in exile: Czechia's first Ukrainian bookstore opens in Prague

The first Ukrainian bookshop in Czechia has opened in Prague, and Ukrainians living in the country have shown interest in it. Nearly 5,000 people are following its Instagram page, which was launched three weeks ago, according to the owners, Andriy Nosach and Oleksandr Salfetnikov.

They said it is the first such bookstore in the Czech Republic, as there have been only small online stores in the country.

Given the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some 350,000 Ukrainians are currently staying in Czechia with a temporary protection status. According to data from the Interior Ministry, about half a million Ukrainians live in Czech territory, making up nearly 5 percent of the population.

The small shop offers literature of all genres, including children’s books, publications for teenagers, non-fiction, and art literature. “Mostly, people buy practical, motivational publications on how to plan their day, how to run a business, or about management. There is also interest in popular contemporary authors,” said Nosach.

The store features books by writer, poet, and playwright Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevsky, considered the pioneer of modern Ukrainian literature. The contemporary Ukrainian authors include Oksana Zabuzhko and Serhiy Zhadan, both of whom write poems and novels, and writer and journalist Stanislav Aseyev, who was released from prison in the occupied Donetsk before the Russian invasion.

Apart from Ukrainian books, there are several books written in Belarusian. “This is because Belarus is unofficially controlled by Russia, and many people have left the country because of political problems. The books are an expression of support for these people. They come from Vesna, an independent publishing house that moved from Belarus to Czechia,” Nosach said.

The books can be purchased at a price corresponding to the price of books in the Czech Republic.

The books for the Ukrainian bookstore are brought to Czechia from a warehouse in Lviv. “This is not our first deal; we already own the Prometheus publishing house in Ukraine and have contacts with all the Ukrainian publishers who sell books to us. We plan to open a warehouse in Prague, bring Ukrainian books there, and then sell them online throughout the European Union,” Salfetnikov said.

They plan to bring over 2,000 new books to the bookstore in early August. “When the bookstore opened three weeks ago, we had 1,300 books, and most of them sold out on the first opening day when over 400 people came,” Salfetnikov said.

Two years ago, a public library for Ukrainians who fled Russian aggression was established near Old Town Square in the center of Prague in the new Svitlo community center. It offers Ukrainian readers books in their native language. “People told us they know about such a library, but they prefer to buy from us; they want to have their books at home,” Nosach said.