Prize named after Yuri Shevelyov

Candidates for the Award can be nominated by Ukrainian and foreign cultural institutions, publishing houses, research centers, and creative associations.

Original artistic or scientific essays by Ukrainian authors written in Ukrainian and published in paper form (book, collection) during the calendar year are accepted for consideration. An essay is a syncretic literary or literary-scientific form that represents the point of view of the author.

Applications are accepted annually from August 15 to October 15 .

Each work can participate in the competition for the Prize only once.

The Chapter of the Prize consists of 11 members. Regardless of the year, the Chapter includes the president of PEN Ukraine, the Dean of Kyiv Mohyla Business School, representatives of Dukh-i-Litera Publishing House and Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, and the Prize laureates from the previous three years. They are responsible for inviting 4 more members of the Chapter – writers, critics, scholars, and journalists. Invited members may work as Chapter members for 2 years with possible extension for another 2 years (upon consent).

The 2024 Chapter:

1. Volodymyr Yermolenko, president of PEN Ukraine (head of the Chapter)
2. Olia Hnatiuk, scholar, professor of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and Warsaw University
3. Oleksiy Panych, philosopher, translator, senior researcher at the Dukh-i-Litera publishing company
4. Roman Veretelnyk, literary scholar, literary criticist, translator
5. Oleh Kotsiuba, literary scholar, head of the publishing program at HURI
6. Tamara Hundorova, literary scholar, associate member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (the Institute of Literature)
7. Rostyslav Semkiv, writer, literary scholar, literary criticist, translator, associate professor at Kyiv Mohyla Academy
8. Oksana Khmelyovska, journalist, co-founder and editor of the cultural and publishing project Chytomo
9. Andrii Bondar, writer, essayist, translator, the Prize laureate in 2021
10. Andrii Pavlyshyn, journalist, historian, translator, the Prize laureate in 2022
11. Oleksandr Mykhed, writer, essayist, translator, the Prize laureate in 2023

The winner of the Prize is selected in three stages:

1. at the first stage, a long list of applicants is formed from the publications submitted to the Chapter and meet the technical criteria of the Prize, which is announced no later than November 1 ,
2. in the second stage, the members of the Chapter vote for the short list of the Prize, which is published a week before the award ceremony on December 10 ,
3. At the third stage, the members of the Chapter elect the winner of the Prize by anonymous voting, the name of which is announced during the ceremony on December 17, the birthday of Yuri Shevelyov.

The winner of the Prize is awarded a statuette of the Bronze Angel, as well as a cash prize and a diploma of the winner. Nominees receive nominees' diplomas and a selection of books published by Dukh i Litera.

From 2020, two special awards will be presented within the framework of the Yuri Shevelyov Prize.

The special award of the Chapter is for the contribution to the development and popularization of essays. This award can be given to:

- Ukrainian authors for their general essay work;
- foreign authors whose works have been translated into Ukrainian;
- Ukrainian authors who write in other languages;
- literary critics who analyze and promote essays;
- publishers and editors of periodicals that actively publish essays.

Special award UA: Radio Culture - for skill and innovation in the genre of essays, as well as the sound of the text in radio format. The award for the author-essayist in this nomination will be the creation of a radio version of the work, which will be broadcast on UA: Radio Culture. The winner will be chosen by an expert group of Radio editors, producers and journalists.

2013 - Taras Prokhasko ("One and the Same") and Andriy Portnov ("Stories for Home Use")
2014 - Konstantin Moskalets ("Alarms")
2015 - Alexander Boychenko ("More / less")
2016 - Vakhtang Kebuladze ("Cells of Fate")
2017 - Andriy Lyubka ("Saudi")
2018 - Volodymyr Yermolenko ("Current Ideologies")
2019 - Diana Klochko ("65 Ukrainian masterpieces. Recognized and implicit")
2020 - Taras Lyuty ("Culture of charms and resistance")
2021 - Andriy Bondar ("Treats for Medor")
2022 - Andrii Pavlyshyn ("Eternity Still Jeopardizes Us")
2023 - Oleksandr Mykhed ("Job's Call Sign. Chronicles of the Invasion")
2024 - Myroslav Laiuk ("Bakhmut")
2025 - Artur Dron ("Hemingway Knows Nothing")

2019 – Volodymyr Panchenko for special contribution to Ukrainian essays
2020 – Oksana Zabuzhko for contribution to the development of Ukrainian essays and promotion of the heritage of Yuri Shevelyov
2021 – Mykola Riabchuk, Honorary Ambassador of Ukrainian essay in the world
2021 – Stanislav Aseyev for commitment to human rights and courageous writing
2022 – Pavlo Kazarin for masterful columns and analysis of contemporary war reality
2023 – Andrii Hudyma (posthumously) and Andrii Sodomora
2024 – Vasyl Makhno for a distinctive voice in Ukrainian essay writing over the past twenty years and for building bridges of cultural understanding
2025 – Myroslava Pinkovska for an outstanding contribution in preserving cultural memory, Vira Ageyeva for the essays in the field of literary studies, that rediscover the forgotten layers of Ukrainian culture

2020 – Vasyl Makhno for the book "Along the Ocean on a Rover"
2021 – Vira Aheyeva for the book "Behind the Scenes of the Empire. Essays on Ukraine-Russia Relations in Culture"
2022 – Markiian Prokhasko for the book "The Dream of Antarctica"
2023 – Andriy Gumenyuk for the book "Africa"
2024 – Stanislav Aseyev for the book "The Melchior Elephant, or the Man Who Thought".
2025 – Artem Cheh for the book "A Game in Disguise"