“A collaborative effort truly becomes collaborative only when isolated initiatives evolve into systematic, balanced, and persistent actions toward a mutually defined and significant goal shared by all cultural actors. To achieve this, we require strong media, platforms for discussion and collaboration, and opportunities for shared space and time. This value becomes especially evident when space and time are threatened.”
Iryna Baturevych is a co-founder of the Chytomo media project (NGO), the Ukrainian independent media covering publishing and contemporary literary and cultural processes in Ukraine. Together with the Chytomo team, she organized the Ukrainian Chytomo Award for the Outstanding Achievements in Publishing. The publishing markets observer.
In 2022, she co-founded the Ukrainian Club of Montreal.
Before — a deputy director and a head of the analytical department of the Ukrainian Book Institute, guest teacher of the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.
Presented the Ukrainian publishing market in more than 15 international events including the biggest book fairs and forums: Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany), Bologna Book Fair (Italy), Salon du livre (Canada), etc. Iryna has 15 years of experience in publishing and media, articles were published in the Ukrainian media (Chytomo.com, Day Newspaper, Ukrainska Pravda), and professional media abroad (e.g. PW, Publishing Perspectives, Boersenblatt).
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How Chytomo media was created:
“I’ve always been driven by a desire to engage in tasks that propel me forward. Back in 2009, I was writing my university master’s thesis. I used this as an opportunity to create something practical and impactful. And I knew that Oksana (Oksana Khmelyovska, Chytomo co-founder, editor-in-chief) shared this vision and was the ideal partner to help me bring it to life. Besides, we recognised that the key to our growth lay not only in analyzing the process, but in engaging directly with industry experts — publishers, managers, writers, and designers. How? Given our journalistic background, we decided to start Chytomo — an online magazine about publishing, literature, and design. For the past 14 years, we have been leading this project, and I am pleased to see that Chytomo has now become an influential platform for aspiring publishing professionals in Ukraine, a tool for fostering a culture of reading, and a media outlet that introduces Ukrainian publishing and literature to a global audience.”
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Publications:
https://chytomo.com/en/authors/iryna-baturevych-2/ (ENG)

CCC Ukrainian Authors and Publishers Fight On

Main photo by Taras Podolian; other photos are from the Iryna’s archive.

Publications: Iryna Baturevych