The article deals with the problem of using a literary text in teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language, in particular, the need to take into account psychological factors when working with a literary text in a language class.The universal nature of fiction literature motivates and justifies the usage of such educational material. Fiction deals with universal and eternal problems: love, separation, hope, faith, struggle, death, betrayal, etc. Therefore, the literary text can excite people of different nationalities. The paper analyzes the psychological and psycholinguistic approaches to reading fiction and using it in teaching. A complete perception of a literary text is possible provided that the semantic fields of the text and semantic fields (primarily emotional) of the reader intersect. Stimulation of the emotional sphere contributes to the effective development of speech skills and facilitates the memorization of lexical units and grammatical and stylistic norms. Therefore, taking into account the interests of foreign students is a main factor for selecting literary texts and organizing effective work with them in the process of teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language. The author defines the specifics of communication “an author – a literary text in a foreign language – a reader”. It is carried out with the help of an intermediary. Such an intermediary is a teacher or an author of a book on literary reading. They select a literary text appealing to the audience, adapt it if necessary, offer comments and a task system, and draw the readers’ attention to important points that can inspire interest and cause discussion, help to establish a parallel between the literary text and the students’ life experience. Thus, the teacher acts as the moderator of the reading process helping to bring the artistic space of the literary text close to the foreign reader’s personality. The author gives examples from her own experience in teaching the Ukrainian language to foreigners using literary texts. Motivated reading and effective discussion of the texts are possible if the students are personally interested in the problems, the events, the heroes’ fate, and the author’s position.