Video: Presentation and announcement of the winners of the Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize, 2025

A ceremony honoring the shortlisted books of the 2025 Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize took place on 3 October at the 32nd Lviv BookForum.

During the event, a presentation of the five shortlisted books took place, featuring authors, translators from Yiddish and Hebrew, and editors. This year, the jury had to choose between a mystical thriller, a classic novel, a fictionalized memoir, stories about Hasidim, and an anthology of works by twentieth-century Ukrainian writers about Ukraine’s Jewish compatriots.

Following a discussion of the books and comments by members of the international jury, which included Maria Genkin of the United States and Volodymyr Yeshkilev of Ukraine, jury head Ostap Slyvynsky of Ukraine announced that Centuries of Presence. The Jewish World in Ukrainian Short Prose of the 1880s–1930s, compiled by Khrystyna Semeryn and published in 2024 by Kyiv’s Dukh i Litera, was named the fifth winner of the Encounter prize.

UJE Board Member Igor Shchupak presented diplomas to the winner and authors and representatives of shortlisted books in recognition of their achievements.

Moderating the event were Andriy Pavlyshyn, a public figure and historian, and Lana Zhabiuk, a well-known Ukrainian journalist.

Along with Centuries of Presence. The Jewish World in Ukrainian Short Prose of the 1880s–1930s, the following books were short-listed in 2025:

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)

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)

The Encounter prize aims to build on the common experiences of Ukrainians and Jews over the centuries, expressed in literature and nonfiction. The prize is 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."

The prize is valued at 7000 Euros, with the prize money divided between the author/s and publisher: the author/s receive 4000 Euros and the publisher 2000 Euros. Four (4) incentive awards receive 250 Euros each.

The 2025 prize honored works in fiction published in 2023–2024.