Kyiv-Mohyla Academy launches two international awards for young authors
This was reported by The Public with reference to the Instagram account of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
The initiative to establish the awards came from Askold Melnychuk, an American writer of Ukrainian origin and professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, in collaboration with the Volodymyr Morenets Department of Literary Studies at NaUKMA.
Two awards have been established: The Zahajkewycz Poetry Prize, named after the Zahajkewycz family, and The Zahajkewycz Prize for the Best BA or MA Thesis in Ukrainian Studies, awarded for the best bachelor's or master's thesis in Ukrainian studies.
The awards are named after the Zahajkewycz family — the family of Askold Melnychuk's mother, who came from Przemyśl and emigrated to the United States in 1944. According to Melnychuk, the award was established in honour of his mother's belief in the power of literature.
In addition to a financial reward, the winners of the poetry award will have the opportunity to have their works translated into English and published in one of the American literary magazines. The winner will be announced in May 2026, and the award ceremony will take place in June 2026.
The prize for the best bachelor's or master's thesis in Ukrainian studies will be awarded after the completion of defences in 2026.
Askold Melnychuk is the author of novels, poetry collections and a book of short stories, co-editor of the anthology From Three Worlds, founder and first editor of AGNI magazine, and founder of Arrowsmith Press. His translations introduce English-speaking readers to the works of Ukrainian authors, including Oksana Zabuzhko, Mariana Savka, Bohdan Boichuk, and Ivan Drach.
