BBC News Ukraine has revealed the winners of its 2021 Book of the Year awards presented in partnership with the Cultural Programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
At the ceremony at Mystetskyi Arsenal – the National Cultural and Museum Complex in Kyiv – and streamed on the BBC News Ukraine Facebook page and YouTube channel, Artem Chekh’s “Khto ty takyi?” (“Who Are You?”) (publisher: Meridian Cheriovits) was named as BBC Book of the Year, Petro Yatsenko’s “Soyuz Radyanskykh Rechey” (“Union of Soviet Things”) (publisher: Portal) as BBC Children’s Book of the Year, and Andriy Sodomora’s “Pro scho pysaty…” (“What to Write About…”) (publisher: Apriori ) as the winner in the BBC Book of the Year – Essays category.
BBC News Ukraine Editor and the awards jury member, Marta Shokalo, said: “What unites this year's winners is that they all refer to the past to better understand the present, and explain why we are who we are. Artem Chekh chose as the title of his book the eternal and fundamental question ‘Who are you?’. He tried to answer it for himself and for each of us, and did it masterfully and with great humanity. Andriy Sodomora's book also reminds us of the most important thing – the value of the present moment, which the author skilfully articulates.”
EBRD Cultural Advisor and the awards jury member, Svitlana Pyrkalo, added: “The past also inspires the winner of the Children’s Book of the Year, Petro Yatsenko’s fascinating excursion into the Soviet past, so recent and yet already generations away. Children of today will learn not only about indoctrination and food shortages, but also about old toys, school, and how to communicate with friends without a smartphone.”
The winning author in each category is awarded a Ukrainian hryvnya equivalent of £1,000. The publishers of the BBC Book of the Year, BBC Children’s Book of the Year, and BBC Book of the Year – Essays will have the right to use the logos of the BBC News Ukraine Book awards on subsequent editions.
The BBC Book of the Year awards were judged by:
- Vira Ageyeva, professor, Ukraine National University “Kiev-Mohyla Academy”
- Vitaliy Chepynoha, blogger
- Vadym Karpyak, TV presenter
- Svitlana Pyrkalo, EBRD cultural advisor
- Marta Shokalo, BBC News Ukraine editor.
This year’s winner of the Reader of the Year 2021 prize (a Kindle EBook) for the best reader review is Lyudmyla Danylenko for her review of Sergiy Osoka book “Try lyny dlia Marii” (“Three Trenches for Maria”).
BBC News Ukraine Book of the Year 2020 winners were: Serhii Serhiyovych Saigon’s “Yupak” (Book of the Year), Ulyana Chuba’s “Med i Pashtet – fantastichni vitrohony” (“Honey and Pate – Fantastic Scatterbrains”) (Children’s Book of the Year) and Oksana Zabuzhko’s “Planeta Polyn” (“Planet Wormwood”)(Book of the Year – Essays).