Eero Balk became the laureate of the Drahomán Prize for 2024

Eero Balk, a Finnish translator, has been awarded the 2024 Drahomán Prize, which honours translators from Ukrainian into world languages. The announcement was made during a solemn ceremony held on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day, at the ‘Sens’ bookshop in Kyiv.

A translator of Ukrainian into Finnish, Eero Balk (Finland), was nominated for this year's prize by the Ukrainian Society in Finland for his translation of Evheniia Kuznetsova’s novel ‘The Staircase’ (The Old Lion Publishing House, 2023).

Notably, Eero Balk was also shortlisted for the Drahomán Prize last year for his translation of Serhii Rudenko’s ‘The Battle for Kyiv’.

This book illustrates Ukrainian perspectives on the war and the Russian narratives, often unheard here, abroad. People everywhere sympathize with Ukrainians, but they're unsure how to deal with the Russians. In contrast, the characters in this book all know what to do with them. So, this translation will help promote Ukrainian literature and culture a bit more in Finland," Eero Balk pointed out, adding his intention to contribute a share of his prize money to the Ukrainian army.

The prize for the winner is the statuette made by Ukrainian artist Anna Zviahintseva and a cash prize of EUR 3,000. Eero Balk was unable to attend the ceremony in person, so the award was accepted on his behalf by journalist and cultural manager Natalia Teramae (Dmytrenko). Investment in the winner's prize: ЗMIN Foundation with the support of the Cultural Diplomacy Foundation.

Representatives from the founding institutions of the Drahomán Prize also addressed the attendees.

The ceremony was hosted by journalist and executive producer of Radio Kultura, Iryna Slavinska.

It is worth recalling that the shortlist for the 2024 Drahomán Prize also included translators from Ukrainian into English, Amelia Glaser and Yuliya Ilchuk (for their translation of Halyna Kruk’s poetry collection 'A Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails'), and translators from Ukrainian into Croatian, Dariya Pavlešen and Ana Dugandžić (for their translation of Yuri Andrukhovych’s novel 'Radio Night').

The Special Jury Commendation for the high professionalism and humanism in developing the Ukrainian-Lithuanian literary dialogue was given to a translator from Ukrainian into Lithuanian, Vytautas Dekšnys.

This year’s long list for the Drahomán Prize comprised 20 nominees: individual translators and translation teams working from Ukrainian into Finnish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Lithuanian, German, Croatian, Polish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Czech, and Swedish. Applications for the award were received from 16 countries, specifically Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Georgia, the United States, Finland, Croatia, Czechia, and Sweden.

The Prize was founded in 2020 by the Ukrainian Institute, PEN Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Book Institute. The Prize aims to support and acknowledge the enlightening work of translators from Ukrainian into other languages. The Drahomán Prize is awarded for excellence in translation and contribution to the promotion of Ukrainian literature abroad.

This year's ceremony marked its fifth iteration. Previous laureates of the prize include Polish translator Katarzyna Kotyńska (2023), translator from Ukrainian into French Iryna Dmytryshyn (2022), translator from Ukrainian into Polish, writer and literary critic Bohdan Zadura (2021), and translator from Ukrainian into German Claudia Dathe (2020).

The short list and the laureate of the award are nominated by the Chapter of the prize, comprising 9 members. The Chapter consists of reputable translators, linguists, literary scholars, and cultural managers, as well as the director of the Ukrainian Book Institute. The 2024 Chapter members include Volodymyr Sheiko, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Oleksandra Koval, Yaroslava Strikha, Alla Tatarenko, Katarzyna Kotynska, Rory Finnin, Iryna Zabiiaka, and Sofiia Onufriv.

Media partners of the 2024 Drahomán Prize: Suspilne Kultura, Radio Kultura, Chytomo, Channel 5.