‘People need to tell stories’: Lviv holds literary festival in defiance of war

From right: Yurko Prokhasho, Henry Thomas Marsh, Rachel Clarke and Andriy Myzak at a public discussion of ‘love and loss’ during the 29th Lviv BookForum on 7 October. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

In a time of violence, warfare and bloodshed, what is the use of literature? This was a question addressed at the Lviv BookForum, a three-day literary festival in the Ukrainian city, staged despite – and in defiance of – the Russian invasion.

The festival has brought together Ukrainian, British and international authors including human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, whose bestselling book, East West Street, is largely set in 20th-century Lviv.