Polish scholar honored with prestigious 2023 Drahomán Prize for Ukrainian language translation

On World Book and Copyright Day, the "Sense" bookstore in the capital received the 2023 Drahomán Prize for translating from Ukrainian to various languages. The award went to Polish scholar Katarzyna Kotynska.

The press service of the award in the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy reported that.

The award recipient was recognized for her translation of Ukrainian writer and literary critic Oksana Zabuzhko's book, "The Longest Journey," into Polish. The work, titled "Najdłuższa podroż," was published in Poland in 2023 by Agora publishing house.

During her speech, Kotynska thanked everyone who helped her in her work.

"To everyone who discussed it with me, who argued with me, to all my students. To all my Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian friends on whom I could always rely.

And I hope we have many more such adventures ahead of us because immersing myself in new and old Ukrainian literary texts is the best adventure I can think of for myself for many, many years to come," she said.

The winner received a statuette made by Ukrainian sculptor Anna Zviahintseva and a cash prize of three thousand euros.

The Director General of the Ukrainian Institute, Volodymyr Sheyko, presented the award. He emphasized that the work of translators from Ukrainian to other languages makes Ukrainian culture more visible globally and builds bridges between countries.

Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko, for her part, stressed that "it is valuable to have the opportunity to meet friends today who, facing misunderstandings, risking their niche position in their cultures, all this time stubbornly and consistently worked on what they believed in the necessity of Ukrainian culture, literature and Ukrainian experience for their cultures and their experience."

In his turn, Volodymyr Yermolenko, the president of the Ukrainian PEN [a Ukrainian non-governmental organization established to protect freedom of speech and authors' rights, promote literature and international cultural cooperation – ed.], emphasized that the culture that perceives the translated word is enriched through these translations.

"Ukrainian culture is now telling the world what it does not yet know about itself. It fills large gaps in world culture, gaps that are heralds of the truth – perhaps unknown to the world," he noted.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy informed that Katarzyna Kotynska is also a translator from Ukrainian to Polish, laureate of the Angelus Central European Literary Award for translators for the translation of Oksana Zabuzhko's novel "Museum of Abandoned Secrets" (2013).

Since 2023, she has headed the Department of Ukrainian Studies at the Institute of East Slavic Philology of Jagiellonian University. She was a mentor of the Gaude Polonia program (class of 2023).

Katarzyna Kotynska was nominated for the Drahomán Prize by the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Poland.

The awards ceremony was held at the "Sense" bookstore on Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv. Writer and journalist Olena Huseynova presented the award, and the Ukrainian band Ukiez provided musical accompaniment.

For reference:

The Drahomán Prize, established in 2020 by the Ukrainian Institute, Ukrainian PEN, and the Ukrainian Book Institute, recognizes outstanding translation skills and efforts to promote Ukrainian literature internationally.

The first laureate of the award was the German translator Claudia Date. In 2021, the Polish translator Bohdan Zadura received the prize. In 2022, Iryna Dmytryshyn became the laureate of the award.

The name of the Drahomán Prize 2023 laureate is traditionally announced during the award ceremony in Kyiv at the end of April.

In 2023, 3 translators were shortlisted for the Drahomán Prize.

The Drahomán Prize 2023 finalists were:

• Eero Balk, a native of Finland, translates from Ukrainian to Finnish. He has been nominated for his translation of Serhii Rudenko's book "Battle for Kyiv" by Fabula in 2023.
• Katarzyna Kotynska, a native of Poland, is a translator who specializes in Ukrainian to Polish translations. She was nominated for her translation of Oksana Zabuzhko's novel The Longest Journey (Komora, 2023).
• Mikael Nydal, a translator from Swedish to Ukrainian, has been nominated for his translation of Artur Dron's poetry collection "Here We Were" (published by Stary Lev Publishing House in 2023).

They also announced the unique honor of the award for building bridges between Ukrainian and Georgian cultures, which was given to translator Raul Chilacava.

It is essential to mention that on April 22nd, the Hurkit Charitable Foundation, in collaboration with Vivat Publishing House, unveiled two pickup trucks for the Air Defense Center unit. These trucks were purchased for the "Put a Russian Book in a Corner" initiative.