Jury Select Five Additional Grant Recipients for Present Tense, a PEN Ukraine grant program made possible by RIBBON International

In April, the jury had already selected 10 winning projects submitted through the open call.

Following the exceptional volume of high-quality applications, the jury has selected five additional projects to receive grant support through the Present Tense program, a grant program made possible by RIBBON International.

RIBBON International is allocating $100,000 to the initiative in 2026. Through an open competition, 15 Ukrainian writers will now each receive individual support of $5,000 (in hryvnia equivalent) toward completing new books.

The program focuses on texts that contribute to documenting Russia's crimes against Ukraine, processing the experience of war and life lived within it, preserving cultural memory, and rethinking Ukrainian identity.

The five newly selected recipients are:

• Halyna Vdovychenko — a nonfiction book titled Life Is Today, following two people in their sixties as they live through Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine;
• Illia Makarenko — a historical novel Call Yourself an Orphan, exploring the events that shaped Ukrainian Donbas in the early twentieth century;
• Oksana Mamchenkova — an autofiction work How I Became a Fish, about a woman who finds her true self navigating personal and social challenges;
• Yurii Matsarskyi — a short story collection The last superhero in Gaza, set in the Middle East and centered on events that changed the course of history in the region;
• Serhii Mishchenko — a short story collection MARCH. Surviving Loss / Notes of a Combat Medic, tracing the development of tactical combat casualty care in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Each fellow is expected to deliver a book published no later than December 25, 2026.

Applications were evaluated by a jury comprising: Volodymyr Yermolenko (philosopher, writer, journalist, President of Ukrainian PEN), Myroslava Barchuk (journalist, television presenter), Anatoliy Dnistrovyi (essayist, writer, poet, serviceman), Anastasiia Herasymova (literary critic, communications specialist), and Kateryna Zarembo (writer, social science researcher, servicewoman).

In assessing submissions, the jury considered originality of authorial voice, the social and cultural significance of the proposed work, and the applicant's capacity to conduct the research and engage with the materials required to write the book.

The previously announced ten recipients are: Hanna Horodetska, Halyna Kruk, Bohdan Lohvynenko, Taras Liutyi, Yuliia "Taira" Paievska, Tea Sanina, Olena Stepanenko (Prylutska), Pavlo Stekh, Nataliia Torzhevska, and Mykhailo Filonenko.