Prize named after Vasyl Stus
The Ukrainian PEN has decided to take over the continuation of the Vasyl Stus Prize , founded in 1989 by the Ukrainian Association of Independent Creative Intelligentsia (UANTI) headed by Yevhen Sverstyuk (1928-2014), which was awarded annually on January 14 – St. Basil's Day.
Since 2016, the Prize has been sponsored by the PEN Ukraine, the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School and the Dukh i Litera publishing house. They decided to make some changes to the current tradition of this award, namely, to create a jury, provisions for the award and distinction.
PEN Ukraine awards the Vasyl Stus Prize annually to living authors (writers, artists, directors, musicians, cultural managers) regardless of their place of residence for special contribution to Ukrainian culture and stability of citizenship.
Three months before the award ceremony, each member of the jury announces one candidate with a short (up to 100 words) written justification. Jury members who do not have the opportunity to personally attend the meeting vote electronically. Every year, the jury also includes the President of the Ukrainian PEN and the winner of the Vasyl Stus Prize for the previous year.
All announced candidates are considered by the jury meeting in two stages. At the first stage, a long list of candidates is formed by rating. At the following stage, the winner is determined by anonymous voting, based on a simple majority of votes.
The award ceremony takes place annually in early September .
The winner of the Vasyl Stus Prize receives a diploma and an award from the Ukrainian branch of PEN International.
Prize winners
1989 - Ivan Svitlychny, Opanas Zalyvakha, Volodymyr Kuchynsky
1990 - Boris Dovgan, Raisa Lysha
1991 - Galina Sevruk, Maria Burmaka
1992 - Nadiya Svitlychna, Olga Bogomolets, Mykola Horbal, Ihor Kalinets
1993 - Anna-Galya Gorbach, Andriy Mentukh, Antonina Listopad, Andriy Antonyuk
1994 - Mykhailyna Kotsyubynska
1996 - Sergey Moroz
1997 - Igor Zhuk
1998 - Mykola Malyshko, Galya and Lesya Telnyuk, Lana Perlulainen
1999 - Vasil Slapchuk, Olga Kravchuk
2000 - Vasyl Ovsienko, Lyudmila Semikina, Moses Fishbein, Volodymyr Guba
2001 - Galina Stefanova, Lyubov Panchenko
2002 - Valentina Masterova, Anatoly Perepadya
2003 - Anatoliy Rusnachenko, Mykhailo Moskalenko, Valery Franchuk
2004 - Kostya Moskalets, Taras Kompanichenko, Ivanna Krypyakevych-Dymyd
2005 - Hryhoriy Huseynov, Andriy Kryshtalsky
2006 - Olena Golub, Yevhenia Leschuk, Stanislav Chernilevsky
2007 - Oleksandra Matviychuk, Eleonora Solovey, Mykhailo Tkachuk
2008 - Halyna Mohylnytska, Oleksandr Smyk, Olga Melnyk
2009 - Myroslav Marynovych, Osip Zinkevych
2010 - Kyrylo Bulkin, Andriy Danilchenko, Larysa Masenko, Oleksandr Ryabokrys, Stepan Semenyuk
2011 - Maria Ovdienko, Yaroslava Muzychenko, rock band "Garden"
2012 - Volodymyr Vyatrovych, Iryna Zhilenko, Yevhen Zakharov
2013 - Mykola Plakhotniuk, Lyubov Minenko, Borys Tkachenko, Sofia Fedina
2014 - Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, Ruslana Lyzhychko, Oleksandr Polozhynsky
2016 - Alexandra Koval
2017 - Sergey Zhadan
2018 - Fr. Boris Gudziak
2019 - Vlad Troitsky
2020 - Akhtem Seitablaev
2021 – Taras Vozniak
Jury of the 2022 Prize
Myroslav Marynovych – Chairman of the Jury, publicist, founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, Honorary President of PEN Ukraine;
Taras Vozniak – culturologist, political analyst, Director General of the Borys Voznytskyi National Art Gallery in Lviv, laureate of the 2021 Vasyl Stus Prize;
Andriy Kurkov - Ukrainian writer, President of the Ukrainian PEN;
Ola Hnatyuk - researcher, professor at NaUKMA and the University of Warsaw, vice-president of PEN Ukraine;
Yurko Prohasko - essayist, translator;
Oleksandr Savruk - Dean of Kyiv-Mohyla Business School;
Eleanora Solovey - literary critic;
Leonid Finberg - Editor-in-Chief of the publishing house "Spirit and Letter"