The short list announced for the 2023 'Encounter' prize
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 2022 'Encounter' prize was not awarded in connection with Russia's genocidal war against Ukraine.*
*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."
The Ukrainian Jewish Encounter and Ukraine's NGO "Publishers Forum" are pleased to announce the short list for the 2023 'Encounter' prize, nominated in the fiction category, for books published in 2020-2022.
Sofia Andrukhovych, Amadoka, (Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2020)
Sofia Andrukhovych, Amadoka, (Lviv: Vydavnytsvo Staroho Leva, 2020)
Oleksiy Nikitin, Bat-Ami (Kyiv: Phoenix Publishing House, 2021)
Oleksiy Nikitin, Bat-Ami (Kyiv: Vydavnytsvo Phoenix, 2021)
Anna Frajlich, Father's Name (Ternopil: Krok Publishing House, 2021)
Anna Frajlich, Im’ya bat’ka (Ternopil: Vydavnytsvo Krok, 2021)
Ivanna Stef’iuk, About You (Brustury: Discursus, 2022)
Ivanna Stef’iuk, Pro vas (Brustury: Discursus, 2022)
Ida Fink, The Garden Floats Away (Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2021)
Ida Fink, Sad vidplyvaye (Lviv: Vydavnytsvo Staroho Leva, 2020)
The prize is valued at 7000 Euros. The winner receives 6000 Euros, with the author/s receiving 4000 Euros and the publisher 2000 Euros. Four (4) incentive awards will receive 250 Euros each.
The award ceremony for the 'Encounter' prize will take place at the 2023 Lviv Book Forum.
The international jury for the 2023 'Encounter' prize is comprised of:
Olha Mukha (Great Britain/Ukraine, Jury Head)
Olha Mukha is an author, philosopher, cultural analyst and manager, and expert on international communications and human rights. Based in London, she holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
Oksana Forostyna (Ukraine, Jury Member)
Oksana Forostyna is a publisher, editor, author, and translator. She is Europe's Futures Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (IWM), Opinion Editor at Ukraina Moderna, a Visegrad Insight Fellow, and a contributor to Liberties, The European Review of Books, Krytyka, and Visegrad Insight.
Olena Stiazhkina (Ukraine, Jury Member)
Stiazhkina is a Ukrainian writer, Doctor of Science, Professor of History, Leading Research Fellow at the National Academy of Science's Institute of History of Ukraine, and a member of PEN Ukraine.
Read more about the jury members here.
