20 winning projects of the fellowship program for Ukrainian authors announced

The winners were selected by the Jury among 301 applied submissions

Organizers of the initiative: Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators Association, Norwegian Authors’ Union, PEN Ukraine. The project is sponsored by The Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine.

The program is aimed at supporting Ukrainian writers and journalists who work in non-fiction genres and to help documenting the experience of the war that Ukrainian society has been living through since 2014.

This is the continuation of the last year’s fellowship program launched by the Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators Association in cooperation with PEN Ukraine. 10 projects were supported by the program in 2024.

Unlike 2024, this year’s program covers not only authors who work in non-fiction genres but also fiction writers. Thus, it is aimed at supporting Ukrainian authors who work in genres such as non-fiction (reportage, biographies, essays, interviews etc.), fiction (novel, short story, poetry, plays etc.), children’s and young adult literature (fiction and non-fiction texts).

The fellows of the program are:

1. Arenev, Volodymyr (fantasy book Musicians. Iron Wolf ("Музиканти. Залізний вовк") – reinterpreted plots of Ukrainian folk stories that depict life in wartime Ukraine from different angles)

2. Belianskyi, Pavlo "Pashtet" (novel about the defense of Kyiv in the first days of the Russian-Ukrainian war)

3. Birzul, Olha (graphic novel based on the author’s real Signal correspondence with her husband As Soon as You Ask Me Out for a Rave, I Will Never Refuse ("І коли ти скажеш: "Пішли на рейв", — я вже ніколи не відмовлюсь"))

4. Bohomaz, Olha (ecology non-fiction book tentatively titled Sanctuaries in the Firing Line ("Заповідники на лінії вогню"))

5. Gruver, Anna (fiction novel Meeting Ida ("Зустріти Іду") about the desperate will to live on the edge between mortal danger and love, about challenges that young Ukrainians face, about solitude and desire for intimacy)

6. Hubkina, Ievheniia (Northern Saltivka: The Crime Scene ("Північна Салтівка: Місце злочину") – a book about the architecture and routine of Ukraine’s biggest uptown)

7. Denysenko, Larysa (stories of the female survivors of sexual violence during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine)

8. Derevianko, Pavlo (short story collection written after 2022/02/24 that through the form of fantastic metaphor, comprehend different aspects of the war and its influence on human nature – an experience of a civilian who became soldier and combatant)

9. Dron, Artur (St. Panteleimon Hospital ("Лікарня святого Пантелеймона") - a book of poetry stories of wounded combatants who underwent rehabilitation in the Unbroken center)

10. Yehorushkina, Kateryna (A Christmas Adventure Along the Invisible Track ("Різдвяна пригода на невидимій колії") – children’s adventure novel with elements of fantasy and literary reportage)

11. Ilyukha, Yuliia (Blue House ("Синій дім") – a novel about personal and collective trauma as a means of resisting oblivion and female experience of living through the war)

12. Karpiuk, Vasyl (An Unusual Easter in Carpathians ("Незвичайний Великдень у Карпатах") – a short novel about childhood in wartime)

13. Kuryko, Vira (collection of literary reportages tentatively titled How Death, Memory, and Love Change the Landscape ("Як смерть, пам’ять і любов змінюють ландшафт"))

14. Lazutkin, Dmytro (poetry collection Spokesman ("Речник") about the experience of war and reconsideration of one’s own mission during personal transformation amidst current events)

15. Lir, Ievhen (Tavria: Traces on the Wind ("Таврія: Сліди на вітру") – illustrated travel guide highlighting the topic of Ukrainian Tavria’s history and identity)

16. Matevoshchuk, Iurii (essay collection tentatively titled Drone Operator ("Оператор БпЛА") about the author’s personal experience of defending Ukraine within the ranks of the Ukrainian Defense Forces)

17. Osadko, Ganna (Tango in the Kitchen: The Story of a Woman Who Could Live Afterwards ("Танго на кухні: історія жінки, яка навчилася жити після") autobiographical novel about the personal loss, war and return to life)

18. Rafeyenko, Volodymyr (Memories of the Living. Stories from Donetsk ("Спогади про живих. Донецькі історії") – documentary essay collection)

19. Sarnatska, Alina (A Bad Book About the War ("Погана книжка про війну") – book about the author’s personal experience as a Ukrainian combat medic, the transformation of a civilian in wartime, physicality, loss, strength, and vulnerability)

20. Spirin, Ievhen (Under the Sky Full of Guided Aerial Bombs ("Під небом з КАБами") – a novel about combat medics who live in an underground hospital near the frontline)

20 fellowships amounting to €5000 each (in UAH equivalent), will be granted within the 2025 program. As a result of the program, every fellow should publish the non-fiction book prepared within the program, in a Ukrainian publishing company no later than November 30, 2026.

Throughout August-September 2025, the applied submissions have been evaluated by the Jury consisting of Tetyana Teren (journalist, cultural manager, Executive Board member of PEN Ukraine), Bogdana Romantsova (editor, literary scholar), Rostyslav Semkiv (literary scholar, publisher), Bogdan Kolomiychuk (writer, military serviceman), Mariya Tytarenko (essayist, professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University), Ivan Andrusyak (poet, children’s writer, literary critic, translator), Bernhard L. Mohr (member of NFFO, writer, editor of the Cappelen Damm), Olya Shamshur (project manager of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee), Iryna Shuvalova (poet, translator, researcher, post-doc fellow at the University of Oslo).

While determining the winners of the project, the Jury assessed the criteria such as the author’s unique style, social and cultural significance of the author’s idea, and the author’s capability of carrying out the necessary research and processing of materials for a book.