The short list of the 2022 Drahomán Prize has been announced
The finalists of the Prize are:
- Mark Andryczyk (USA) is a translator from Ukrainian into English. Nominated by Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University with a translation of the novel written by Volodymyr Rafeyenko Mondegreen: Songs about Death and Love (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2022). He has administered the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University and has taught Ukrainian literature at its Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures since 2007. Since 2008 he has organized the Contemporary Ukrainian Literature Series, which has brought leading Ukrainian literary figures to audiences in North America.
- Iryna Dmytrychyn (France) is a translator from Ukrainian into French. Nominated by the publishing house Les Édition Noir sur Blanc with a translation of the novel written by Serhiy Zhadan The Orphanage (Les Édition Noir sur Blanc, 2022). Author of numerous publications on Ukrainian literature and history. She is responsible for Ukrainian studies at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris.
- Rayna Kamberova (Bulgaria) is a translator from Ukrainian into Bulgarian. Nominated by the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Bulgaria with a translation of the novel written by Lyubko Deresh Cult (Ergo, 2021). Since 2001, she has been teaching Ukrainian at Sofia University. Her scientific interests are concentrated in the field of lexicography and lexicology, pragmatics, theory and practice of translation, semantics, history of Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations. She translates Ukrainian fiction and publicism.
Along with the list of the finalists, the Chapter of the Prize also announced the name of the holder of the Special Award. The award “for the special contribution to the translation and promotion of Ukrainian literature, as well as to the development of Ukrainian studies in Italy” received Giovanna Brogi (Italy), a translator from Ukrainian into Italian, a researcher of the literature of Central and Eastern Europe. Nominated by the publishing house Voland with a translation of the novel written by Serhiy Zhadan The Orphanage (Voland, 2022), literary editor – Mariana Prokopovych. Giovanna Brogi was a professor of Slavic studies at the University of Urbino (1972-1994) and at the University of Milan (1994-2014). Her research interests are focused on the Renaissance and Baroque literature of Central and Eastern Europe, plurilingualism, Ukrainian literature of the pre-modern era and of the 19th century. She is currently President of AISU, the Italian Association of Ukrainian Studies.
The 2022 Drahomán Prize laureate will receive a statuette made by a famous Ukrainian artist Anna Zvyagintseva, a monetary reward of 3,000 Euros, as well as additional professional opportunities for the promotion of their work.
The open call for the 2022 Drahomán Prize closed on December 10, 2022. After analyzing the received applications for compliance with the technical criteria, 15 nominees, who translate from Ukrainian into English, Finnish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Belarusian, French, Lithuanian, Armenian, Polish, Macedonian, Bulgarian, and Georgian were included into the long list of the 2022 Drahomán Prize. Applications came from 14 countries, including Bulgaria, Brazil, Great Britain, Armenia, Georgia, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, USA, Finland, France. Most applications were submitted by the diplomatic missions of Ukraine in various countries of the world and foreign publishing houses.
The Drahomán Prize was founded in 2020 by the Ukrainian Institute, PEN Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Book Institute. The Prize is designed to support and celebrate the collaborative work of translators from Ukrainian into the world languages. The Drahomán Prize is awarded for the excellence in translation and contribution to the promotion of Ukrainian literature abroad.
The short list and the laureate of the Prize are determined by the Chapter, which consists of 9 members. It includes representatives of the founding organizations as well as authoritative writers, translators, linguists and literary critics, and cultural managers.
The Chapter of the 2022 Drahomán Prize included: Volodymyr Yermolenko, writer, journalist, philosopher, President of the Ukrainian PEN; Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General of the Ukrainian institute; Oleksandra Koval, Director of the Ukrainian Book Institute; Ola Hnatiuk, professor of NaUKMA and the University of Warsaw, Advisor to the President of PEN Ukraine; Ostap Slyvinsky, poet, translator, Vice-president of the Ukrainian PEN; Valentina Stoukalova, manager of the book and intellectual projects of the Institut Français in Ukraine; Yurii Prokhasko, translator; Marko Robert Stech, Ukrainian and Canadian literary critic and writer; Iryna Starovoyt, literary critic, poet, translator.
The first laureate of the Prize was the German translator Claudia Dathe. The holder of the Chapter’s Special Honor “for the excellence in translation and promotion of Ukrainian classical literature” was Imadeddine Raef, a Ukrainian-to-Arabic translator. The Polish translator Bohdan Zadura was the second laureate of the Prize. Tobias Wals, a translator from Ukrainian into Dutch, became the holder of the Chapter’s Special Award “for the filigree translation of the classics of Ukrainian literary modernism and the contribution to the promotion of Ukrainian literature in Europe.”
The Ukrainian Institute is a public institution affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Our mission is to strengthen Ukraine’s international standing through the means of cultural diplomacy. We facilitate international connections between people and institutions and create opportunities for Ukraine to interact and cooperate with the world.
PEN Ukraine is a cultural and human rights NGO uniting Ukrainian intellectuals – writers, journalists, scholars, publishers, translators, human rights defenders, culture managers. With 154 members, it is one of 146 national centers of PEN International. It is a co-founder of the Vasyl Stus Prize, the Yuri Shevelov Prize, and the George Gongadze Prize.
The Ukrainian Book Institute is a government entity affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Its mission is to develop state policy in the book sector, promote book reading in Ukraine, support book publishing, encourage translation activity, and popularize Ukrainian literature abroad.