Rules and application form: Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize — 2025 Fiction Category

Ukrainians and Jews have lived side-by-side on the territory of modern-day Ukraine for nearly two millennia. Separately and together, they weaved a tapestry that has left an indelible mark on Ukraine's cultural, linguistic and historical legacy. Long periods of peaceful co-existence were also accompanied by years of tragedy, separating these two peoples through different historical experiences and narratives. Yet as the 21^st century progresses, and as Ukraine and Israel shape their identities as independent states, shared threads remain, giving rise to new understanding of the past.

The Encounter Prize aims to build on the common experiences of Ukrainians and Jews over the centuries, expressed in literature and nonfiction. The Prize will be awarded annually to the most influential work in literature and nonfiction (in alternate years) that fosters Ukrainian-Jewish understanding, helping solidify Ukraine's place as a multi-ethnic society and giving truth to the motto, "Our stories are incomplete without each other."

Genre, deadlines for submission and awarding
In 2025, the Prize will be awarded in the category of fiction.

Works published in 2023–2024 will be considered. 

Submission period: 28 January–31 March 2025 (deadline for submission).

Awarding: in October 2025. 

The Prize
The Prize, valued at 7000 Euros, is awarded annually. It consists of two categories: fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is defined as prose, poetry and drama. Nonfiction is defined as histories, biographies, memoirs, journalism, essays. The winner in each category is determined alternately, every two years.

In 2025, the Prize will be awarded in the category of fiction (prose, poetry and drama).

The Prize money is divided between the author/s and publisher: the author/s will receive 4000 Euros and the publisher 2000 Euros. Four (4) incentive awards will receive 250 Euros each.

The Prize is sponsored by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter, a Canadian charitable non-profit organization, with the support of the NGO "Publishers Forum" (Lviv, Ukraine).

General criteria for eligibility
Books must be published in Ukraine.

Submitted works must reflect whole, or in part, some aspect of the Ukrainian-Jewish experience, whether it be through characters, the backdrop against which stories take place and so forth.

In 2025, works of fiction — prose, poetry and drama — will be considered.

Priority will be given to original works in the Ukrainian language, although exceptional books translated from other languages will be considered.

Works that foster inter-ethnic strife will not be considered.

No self-published works are eligible.

Books must exist in physical form and be available in Ukrainian bookstores, on the websites of publishing houses and/or public libraries. Jury members have the right to contact the applicant for more information on the availability of books.

*Based on the decision of the UJE Board dated 2 June 2021, books financially supported by the organization cannot be submitted for the "Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize."

Submission Terms
Works may be submitted by publishers, persons connected with book publishing, non-profit organizations and publisher's associations.

Fiction works published in 2023–2024 will be considered. Publishers may submit an unlimited number of fiction books for each year specified in the award conditions.

Titles may be submitted only once. 

Submission Requirements
Submissions require three steps.

Step 1:
In the period between 28 January–31 March 2025 (deadline for submission), fill out and file a completed electronically submitted entry form (in Ukrainian). The electronic entry form is available on the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter website (www.ukrainianjewishencounter.org/uk/).

Step 2:
Completed copies of the application form (.doc), (PDF of the form is here) for each book (in Ukrainian) should be sent between 28 January – 31 March 2025 by e-mail or another electronic form to [email protected].

Step 3:
In connection with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the difficulty of movement between countries, so that jury members are able to work safely, we request publishers send one (1) electronic copy of the submitted work for the competition in PDF format to [email protected] (for official use only).

Evaluation process
Submissions will be judged in two phases:

A small jury of three individuals, chosen by board-approved representatives from the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter and in consultation with representatives of the NGO "Publishers Forum," will determine whether books meet eligibility criteria.

A final jury, chosen by board-approved representatives from the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter and in consultation with representatives of the NGO "Publishers Forum," will determine the award winner and the 4 (four) recipients of the incentive awards.

The final jury will consist of three experts from Ukraine and abroad. Jury members will have one vote, and the jury head two votes.

Prize Announcements
The composition of the jury will be announced four (4) months prior to announcing a winner.

A long list will be published within two (2) months (July) prior to announcing a winner.

A short list will be published within one (1) calendar month (September) prior to announcing a winner.

The announcement of the winner of the 2025 Prize and the presentation of awards to the winner and finalists (from the short list) will take place during the Lviv International BookForum in October.

Prize Conditions
All entry material, including book copies, will become the property of the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter.

Nominated and/or winning author(s) are to participate in all reasonable publicity associated with the Prize including interviews, readings and appearances.

Publishers are to include the Prize decal on all copies of the shortlisted and/or winning book(s) on all subsequent reprints. These decals or their template will be provided by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter.

Informational Partner: 

Note:

The first year of the Prize was in 2020 in the category of fiction (prose, poetry, drama).

Finalists of the 2020 Prize in fiction were:

1. Kateryna Babkina, My Grandfather Was the Best Dancer of Them All (Komora, 2019, Kyiv);
2. Iryna Vlasenko, Teacher of German (Universe, 2019, Kyiv);
3. Maksym Dupeshko, A Story Worth a Whole Apple Orchard (Publishing House 21, 2017, Chernivtsi);
4. Marianna Kiyanovska, Babyn Yar: In Voices (Dukh i Litera, 2017, Kyiv)
5. Vasyl Makhno, Eternal Calendar (The Old Lion Publishing House, 2019, Lviv).

Winner of the 2020 Prize:
Vasyl Makhno, Eternal Calendar (The Old Lion Publishing House, 2019, Lviv).

The second year of the award in 2021 was dedicated to the nonfiction category (historical works, biographies, memoirs, journalism, essays.)

Finalists of the 2021 Prize in nonfiction were:

1. Shlomo Adler, A Jew Again: From Bolechow to Communist Poland to the Jewish State (Kameniar, 2020, Lviv);
2. Iryna Meleshkina, Wandering Stars in Ukraine: Pages from the History of Jewish Theater Dukh i Litera, 2019, Kyiv);
3. Soma Morgenstern, In other times. Young years in Eastern Galicia (In einer anderen Zeit. Jugendjahre in Ostgalizien) (Publishing House 21, 2019, Chernivtsi);
4. Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, The Anti-Imperial Choice: The Making of the Ukrainian Jew (Krytyka, 2018, Kyiv);
5. Yuri Skira, They Were Called Upon: The Monks of the Studite Order and the Holocaust 2019 (Dukh i Litera, 2019, Kyiv).

Winner of the 2021 Prize:
Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, The Anti-Imperial Choice: The Making of the Ukrainian Jew (Krytyka, 2018, Kyiv).

The 2022 Encounter Prize was not awarded in connection with Russia's genocidal war against Ukraine.

The third year of the Prize was in 2023 in the category of fiction (prose, poetry, drama).

Finalists of the 2023 Prize in fiction were:

1. Sofia Andrukhovych, Amadoka,(Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2020);
2. Oleksiy Nikitin, Bat-Ami (Kyiv: Phoenix Publishing House, 2021);
3. Anna Frajlich, Father's Name (Ternopil: Krok Publishing House, 2021);
4. Ivanna Stef’iuk, About You (Brustury: Discursus, 2022);
5. Ida Fink, The Garden Floats Away (Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2021).

Winner of the 2023 Prize:
Sofia Andrukhovych, Amadoka, (Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2020)

The fourth year of the Prize in 2024 was dedicated to the nonfiction category (historical works, biographies, memoirs, journalism, essays.)

Finalists of the 2024 Prize in nonfiction were:

1. Roman Myhalchuk, Death and Survival During the Holocaust: The Terrain of Modern Rivne Region (Rivne: Vydavnytsvo Volynski Oberehy, 2022);
2. Petro Rykhlo, The Plucked Strings of a Loud Lyre...": German-Jewish Poets of Bukovyna (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2023);
3. Evhenia Senik, Because It Hurts (Brustury: Discursus, 2023);
4. Yuriy Skira,  The Life-Saving Footwear Factory (Lviv: Choven Publishing House, 2023);
5. Yulia Stakhivska, Sonya and the Game of Colors (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2022).

Winner of the 2024 Prize:
Yuriy Skira, Solid. The Life-Saving Footwear Factory (Lviv: Choven Publishing House, 2023).

In 2026, the Prize will be awarded in the category of nonfiction literature. Works published in 2024–2025 will be considered.

In the future, in each category (fiction and nonfiction literature), works published during the previous two years will be considered.

For more information please contact:
Natalia A. Feduschak
Director of Communications
Ukrainian Jewish Encounter
Mobile/WhatsApp — (preferred): +1 (720) 394-8184
Mobile (UA):    +380 (66) 704-9681
Email:                [email protected]
Skype :              nfeduschak

Anna Batyshcheva
Award Secretary
Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize ™
Mobile (UA):    +38 (067) 670 0587
Email:               [email protected]