Space for honest dialogue

Maria Genkin, a jury member of the Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize 2025, discusses literature as a cultural diplomacy tool, everyone's need for self-identification, and eradicating stereotypes through cultural discourse.

Maria Genkin is a cultural manager, literary curator, and public figure of Ukrainian origin who has lived in the United States for over three decades. She was born into a Russian-Ukrainian family in Lviv and grew up in a Russian-speaking environment. Maria graduated from a Russian-language school and received a scholarship to study at the Harvard Summer School in 1994, where she attended a Ukrainian literature course.

Maria Genkin co-founded the Razom Book Club, a Ukrainian book club in New York that brings together Ukrainians, Ukrainian Americans, and anyone wishing to read Ukrainian literature. She is also on the supervisory board of Razom for Ukraine, an American non-profit organization established after the Revolution of Dignity. It is the largest Ukrainian charitable organization in the United States in terms of funds raised and invested. Razom implements programs for army support, healthcare, and civil society development in Ukraine. Within the organization, Genkin is also responsible for cultural diplomacy, particularly literature, as she oversees the program of translations and promotion of Ukrainian authors in English.

How did you begin your journey with Razom and the promotion of Ukrainian literature?

When Russia occupied the Crimea and part of eastern Ukraine, this, of course, did not change my self-identification as a Ukrainian. However, I moved away from initiatives to the Russian community and started working with a Ukrainian organization. In 2017, I began my journey of learning about modern Ukrainian literature. I met Serhiy Zhadan and implemented my first project with him.

I later joined the Razom organization, the best platform for implementing literary projects, promoting Ukrainian books worldwide, and supporting book publishing. At the time of the full-scale invasion, I was already on the supervisory board and working on cultural projects. It was impossible to stay away from the war in my country, so we started fundraising activities. We raised USD 78 million for Ukraine in 2022 and continue doing that. At the same time, I am working on projects that are crucial for me, such as the promotion of Ukrainian literature in the United States.

Your activities make me think that literature has acquired a new function in modern realities. In addition to being a tool for erudition, education, and the acquisition of intellectual capital, it is also used for cultural diplomacy and the promotion of Ukraine worldwide. What is your view on the role of literature in modern times?

The role of any art, including literature, is to give a person the opportunity to put themselves into someone else's shoes and share the protagonist's experience. I think we should read about others as often as possible, even though reading about someone like you can sometimes teach you many interesting things. Literature is an empathy tool. After all, information obtained exclusively from the news is a very particular way of empathizing. Literature, high-quality feature films and documentaries, and audiovisual art are the things that explain the human world through emotion, which is the most complex, but also the most understandable language of humanity. That is why we are working to ensure that Americans get to know Ukrainians precisely through literature and other manifestations of culture. Information can always be obtained from the news, whereas emotions come only through art.

What key issues do you see in publishing modern Ukrainian books?

There is a lot of talent and potential, but the published books are very raw. There is no school of literary editing in Ukraine, so the profession of the literary editor is practically non-existent. Of course, proofreaders check the language and make minor corrections, but it is a different level of editing. In the USA, the revision process begins when the author puts the manuscript on the agent's desk. After that, the writer works on the book for a long time, improving the text, plot, and characters. The publishing house that will print this book has its own literary editor, who may also ask the author to do a lot of rewriting.

What I often see in modern Ukrainian books includes underdeveloped endings, characters that are not fully revealed, many irrelevant scenes, and unclear relationships between characters. All this is extremely important. Still, I have my list of modern Ukrainian books I dream of publishing in translation, but after the text is carefully revised.

This is not the only problem. The other day, I read a letter from a Washington Post literary critic who writes that his profession is dying out. The newspaper has even stopped ordering book reviews, because no one reads them. Books are now chosen on social networks. Today, we lack demanding, thoughtful, and deep readers both in the USA and in Ukraine. After all, it is their demand that shapes the supply.

What factors are behind the uneven demand for high-quality books?

If you look at the statistics of how many Ukrainian authors are read, it is a small percentage. Now, another problem emerges: Ukrainian schools do not teach how to read. What is reading? It is not just the mechanical turning over of pages. It is understanding the text — analyzing the characters, the meaning of particular phrases, the depth of thought, and reading between the lines. However, when dozens of works are included in the curriculum because "it is necessary" and each work is not analyzed deeply, the result is a "technical" reader. Unfortunately, a significant part of Ukrainians learn to truly read only in adulthood and on their own.

This year, you are on the jury of the Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter prize. What does this mean for you, and what is your personal experience with the Jewish nation?

My cultural connection with the Jewish nation began in childhood, as I studied at one of the Russian-language schools in Lviv, which used to be a gymnasium for Jews. Many of my classmates were Jewish. My math teacher, Borys Orach, was a Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust. A significant part of the context in which I grew up was connected with the Jewish nation. Living in the United States for many years, my activities have been closely linked to the Jewish community. My experience is also largely connected with the diaspora: many of my classmates went abroad to Israel, the United States, Germany, etc. I am married to a Jew. So, these relationships have always been in my life, and over time, I began to understand and see how much is unspoken in our common history.

I have been following this prize since its inception. The topic is very close to my heart, and I have read and learned a lot about our relations in my lifetime. Perhaps that is why I was invited to the jury. In fact, this prize is a cultural bridge between the Ukrainian and Jewish nations, a space for dialogue, and an opportunity to tell the world about unknown human stories.

This prize gave us Amadoka. Razom for Ukraine provided a grant to translate this book into English and familiarize Americans with this story. It is very high-quality literature, and we need as much of this kind of literature as possible.

What caught your attention in the books submitted for the award this year? Did you find a new Amadoka among them?

I found honesty in some of the shortlisted books. Take, for example, Sonya Kapinus' book about a Russified Jewish family living in Odesa. We have many real prototypes of such families; many of their descendants now live in the USA. They lived and thought about themselves in a certain context and acted accordingly. This also needs to be discussed from the perspective of empathy. The book is deep, modern, and fascinating.

This year's list of books is very diverse — from a modern fantasy novel to an anthology of 20th-century Ukrainian writers who wrote on these topics to translations from Yiddish. It will not be easy to select a winner. I have found each text interesting, and I may not have read some outside the prize. For example, I don't read fantasy a priori, but the nominated fantasy text is very high-quality.

The long list also includes two books translated from Yiddish into Ukrainian. One of them was written by the Ukrainian-Jewish writer Eli Schechtman. This is the first translation of his book into Ukrainian. Reading it, you understand that he writes about the Ukrainian experience. Childhood years in a Polisia shtetl, the Holodomor, the repressions in the 1930s, and the post-war persecution of Jews, known as the "doctors' plot," are all integral parts of Ukrainian history and thus Ukrainian literature.

Could you describe your favorites without naming them? What quality sets these books apart from the rest?

Frankly, I do have favorites, but I can't talk about them yet. Since I often read about Ukrainian-Jewish relations, I liked several books that reveal the complexity of this issue, avoiding black-and-white simplifications. They show that history was ambiguous: there were difficult moments and the influence of external forces, such as the tsarist government and the Black Hundreds, which caused pogroms. Such literary texts are different from dry historical treatises.

In fact, this is a very complex topic with many gaps. For example, we know that [Symon] Petliura wrote or said many positive things about Jews, but some of his troops did terrible, unacceptable things. All such questions should be studied by historians to establish what happened in the past between us.

How do we find these points of contact between our peoples? How should we communicate today?

I would like to see a book published that actually addresses the topic. This is something I lack. Cultural discussion follows this pattern when someone — a historian or a writer — touches on a topic, and this discourse is later processed by artists who transform it into plays, poems, paintings, and films. This is what happened with Marianna Kiyanovska's poetry collection The Voices of Babyn Yar. It was a case that led to other works, and this is how an idea begins to have influence.

You have mentioned honesty in the books nominated for the current edition of the Encounter prize. Can this honesty of presentation, characters, and interaction impact relations between the two nations? Is it a good tool?

This process is already underway: the intellectual elite reads, understands, and accepts, which is why a new cultural product is being formed. It is important to remember that the Ukrainian intelligentsia of the early 20th century was not antisemitic. On the contrary, it perceived Jews as allies in the fight against the Russian monarchy. There were close and fruitful contacts, but this process was interrupted by the Soviet authorities. Today, we should not be obsessed with historical tragedies, even though they did occur. Instead, we need to speak constructively, emphasizing not only the negative but also numerous positive examples in our relations. Some books nominated for the Encounter prize can help with this process.

According to your observations, how has Jewish self-identification changed in Ukraine and beyond over the past decades?

Every person needs identity — an answer to the question "Who am I?" The situation in Ukraine is different now than it was in Soviet times. The Jewish community, which has remained and grown in an independent state, increasingly identifies itself as Ukrainian. This does not mean the loss of its own culture or assimilation. Instead, it points to the emerging political nation in which Crimean Tatars, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, and other nations live alongside Ukrainians. In this sense, the process is more a symbiosis of cultural codes than an erosion of Jewish identity. At the same time, the influence of Soviet stereotypes is still palpable. This is evidenced by public reactions and how, for example, the ethnic background of political leaders is sometimes emphasized. Antisemitism as a prejudice is still present, although it is noticeably weaker in the intellectual milieu. This needs to be explained in Ukraine and to those who left earlier. People who emigrated in the 1980s and 1990s have a different experience, as they remember the Soviet context and sometimes find it difficult to understand that the modern Jewish community in Ukraine is already part of the Ukrainian nation.

Do modern museums and memory projects (such as POLIN in Warsaw) help overcome antisemitic prejudices, or are they still insufficient?

The origins of antisemitism are multilayered: imperial policy, religious prejudices, and folk traditions — all of these translated into specific tragedies. What we see in literature and research (particularly, on the period of Ukrainization in the early 20th century, for example, in the study by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern) is that antisemitism was often not just a "folk" phenomenon but an instrument of division reinforced by the authorities and contemporary institutions.

It is also essential to understand the European context: in some countries, the memory of the Holocaust (Auschwitz/Oświęcim) coexists with modern manifestations of antisemitism. The example of Poland demonstrates that the presence of museum memory does not automatically eradicate all prejudices. The POLIN Museum in Warsaw is a model of how the state works with Jewish history within the framework of a national narrative: "We have something to learn, but we also have our own characteristics."

Antisemitism is a complex, multifactorial phenomenon, involving politics, religion, and traditions. However, talking about it is crucial because this is the only way to gradually eradicate old prejudices.

The books we have read as part of the Encounter literary prize tell a lot about the pogroms and the mechanisms that led to them. Sometimes, the description makes it clear that it was not just spontaneous aggression of the "mob" but a well-thought-out policy. That is why literature, art, and research are crucial: without necessarily reaching every average person, they will form intellectual environments that deter people from exploiting prejudices to their advantage. The more we speak openly (through books, exhibitions, and public discussions), the faster old stereotypes fade into oblivion.

The Encounter prize is not just a cultural initiative, but a full-fledged platform on which Ukrainian-Jewish relations are being constructed. Has this model been successful, and why?

When discussing the Encounter prize abroad, I always receive the question: "Are there any Jews on the jury?" For American Jews, identity and representation are fundamental things, and it is important to articulate them clearly. In Ukraine, we traditionally ask similar questions about nationality or ethnic background less often.

Another reaction I often encounter is surprise: "Why are Ukrainians even talking about this now?" After all, the world's attention is focused on the Middle East, the waves of antisemitism in Western countries, and Russian aggression against Ukraine. One might think that the topic of Ukrainian-Jewish relations has been left aside. In fact, that's not the case. This prize is needed because it provides a space to honestly talk about why and how conflicts arose between two close communities living side by side. At the same time, it demonstrates the possibility of peaceful coexistence provided that there is respect, sensitivity, and intellectual integrity. Working with this experience now, we are learning and can offer the world a practical model of responsible dialogue. The Encounter prize combines memory and modernity, professional expertise and public conversation, helping transform complex history into reflection and build new relations.

On 3 October 2025, we will find out which of the shortlisted books will win the Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize.

A three-member jury will select the best work of 2024–2025 in this field. Zbruc's editorial board offers conversations with the jury members to its esteemed readership.

The 2025 shortlist includes the following books:

Sonya Kapinus, White Rabbits (Kyiv: Publishing House ORLANDO, 2024)
Sonya Kapynus, Bili Krolyky (Kyiv: Vydavnychyy dim ORLANDO, 2024)

Mia Marchenko, Kateryna Pekur, Children of the Burning Time (Kharkiv Readberry, 2024)
Miya Marchenko, Kateryna Pekur, Dity vohnennoho chasu (Kharkiv: Readberry, 2024)

Isaac Leib Peretz, Hasidic, (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2024)
Yitskhok Leybesh Perets, Khasydsʹke (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2024)

Khrystyna Semeryn (Editor), Centuries of Presence. The Jewish World in Ukrainian Short Prose of the 1880s–1930s (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2024)
Khrystyna Semeryn (Uporyadnytsya), Stolittya prysutnosti. Yevreysʹkyy svit v ukrayinsʹkiy korotkiy prozi 1880-kh–1930-kh (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2024) 

Eli Schechtman, Ringen oyf der Neshome (Rings on the Soul) (Lviv: Apriori Publishing House, 2023)
Eli Schechtman, Goyrl. Kilʹtsya na dushi (Lviv: Vydavnytstvo Apriori, 2023)

In December 2019, the Canadian charitable non-profit organization Ukrainian Jewish Encounter, in cooperation with Ukraine's NGO "Publishers Forum" (Lviv, Ukraine), announced a new initiative entitled Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize.

The prize aims to build on the common experiences of Ukrainians and Jews over the centuries, expressed in the written word. It is awarded annually to the most influential work that fosters Ukrainian-Jewish understanding, helping solidify Ukraine's place as a multi-ethnic society. The Encounter prize is awarded in two categories in alternate years: fiction (prose, poetry, and drama) and nonfiction (historical works, biographies, memoirs, journalism, essays).

The first Encounter prize was awarded in September 2020 in the fiction category to Vasyl Makhno for his novel Eternal Calendar (Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2019). The second year of the award in 2021 was dedicated to the nonfiction category, with the winner being Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern for the Ukrainian-language translation of his groundbreaking work, The Anti-Imperial Choice: The Making of the Ukrainian Jew (Kyiv: Krytyka, 2018). The third year of the award was held in 2023 in the fiction category, with Sofia Andrukhovych named the winner for her novel Amadoka (Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2020). The winner in the fourth year of the prize in 2024, in the category of nonfiction, was Yuriy Skira for his book, Solid. The Life-Saving Footwear Factory (Lviv: Choven Publishing House, 2023).

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

Interviewed by Ksenia Pavlyshyn.

Originally appeared in Ukrainian @zbruc.

Translated from the Ukrainian by Vasyl Starko.