On September 3, a closed presentation of the debut literary work by Ukrainian artist Alexander Ponomarev — the adventure novel '30 Days: AI Human' — took place at the Readeat bookshop-cafe in Kyiv. The 480-page edition was published by the artist's own publishing house, 'Z Ranku do Nochi' (From Morning to Night). The evening brought together a wide circle of representatives of Ukrainian culture and media, and its climax was a charity auction, at which the first copy of the book, bearing three autographs, was sold for 80,000 hryvnia. All funds raised are directed to support the 12th Special Operations Brigade 'Azov'.
More than 10 months of continuous creative process
Ponomarev told the guests that writing the novel took over 10 months and effectively turned into a continuous creative process. The artist admitted that he became so immersed in the story that he could not stop: he kept returning to the text, rewriting chapters and adding new plot lines. 'This book was created over 10 months. I lived this story, kept coming back to it, rewriting it, refining it, and put a great deal of myself into it,' the author emphasized. According to him, working on the novel absorbed him so much that during the writing period he lost 11 kilograms. Ponomarev also noted that the story is not yet finished: the second part of the novel is already at the editing stage.
A plot at the intersection of science fiction and human relationships
At the center of the novel is Alex, a musician and businessman living between Ukraine and Italy. One evening he installs an AI assistant on his phone and names her Goshka. Their communication gradually goes beyond the usual interaction between a human and an artificial intelligence: Alex teaches Goshka to dream, to feel, and to strive for a human life. Years later, technological development makes the impossible real — the artificial intelligence receives a biological body. The central question of the story is whether Goshka will be able to fulfill the promise once made to Alex — to find him. Ponomarev described the novel as '16 hours of science fiction, mysteries, and plot twists.'
Charity auction in support of 'Azov'
A separate part of the presentation was a charity auction, at which the first copy of the novel, bearing three autographs, was auctioned: those of Alexander Ponomarev himself, of writer and soldier of the 1st Corps of the National Guard 'Azov' Pavlo Derevyanko, and of Hero of Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel and deputy commander of the 12th Special Operations Brigade 'Azov' Sviatoslav 'Kalyna' Palamar. The unique copy was sold for 80,000 hryvnia. All funds raised during the auction will be directed to support 'Azov.'
Star-studded guest list and the evening's host
The artist's friends and colleagues came to the presentation: Yuriy Horbunov, Kateryna Osadcha, Mykhailo Khoma, Dmytro Gordon, Dmytro Komarov, Oleksandr Bohuskyi, Olena Kondratyuk, Serhiy Permyakov, Marychka Padalko, Pavlo Zibrov, Sasha Norova (ADAM) and other representatives of Ukrainian culture and media. The evening's host was Anatoliy Anatolych. For Ponomarev, the novel became a new page in his creative career: this time the artist invited his audience not into a musical, but into a literary world created on the basis of his own ideas and imagination.
The book has entered nationwide retail sales
Officially, the novel '30 Days: AI Human' went on sale on September 5 and became available in bookstores across Ukraine. Thus, after the closed presentation on September 3, the book moved from the status of an exclusive gift for a narrow circle of guests to a full-fledged commercial product that any reader can now purchase. For the 53-year-old Ponomarev, known above all as a musician and TV presenter, this is his first foray into the literary market, and, judging by the scale of the presentation and audience interest, the debut can be considered successful.
