Smoloskyp Publishers honor young writers of Ukraine (07/02/06)

Smoloskyp Publishers honor young writers of Ukraine

KYIV - Smoloskyp Publishers held an awards ceremony to honor young laureates in areas of poetry, fiction and research on May 7 at the Culture and Arts Center of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv. Entries were submitted by contestants ranging in age from 18 to 30 and were reviewed by Rostyslav Semkiv, Natalka Bilotserkivets, Serhiy Yakovenko, Ihor Hyrych and Petro Vozniuk.

The prizes for this ceremony were partly funded by Vitaliy Vizir, a Ukrainian living in the United States.

Winners of the top prizes have their texts published by Smoloskyp and, according to Mr. Semkiv, the publication's executive director, it offers young talented writers an opportunity to put out their first books. An anthology of selected poems of this year's winners and other submitted texts of importance are to be released in the near future by Smoloskyp, said Mr. Semkiv.

Many Ukrainian writers including Anatoliy Dnistrovyi, Taras Prokhasko, Serhiy Zhadan, Andriy Bodnar, Andriy Kokotiukha and Svitlana Prykalo got their start through Smoloskyp.

This year there was no first prize awarded; however, there were five second prizes, which were awarded to: Artem Antoniuk, 27, of Sumy; Teodos Zelinsky, 20, of Zhytomyr; Oleh Shynkarenko, 26, of Zaporizhzhia; Petro Yatsenko, 28, of Lviv; and Olena Karpenko, 25, of Kyiv.

The six third-prize winners were: Svitlana Bohdan, 21, of Kyiv; Serhiy Osoka, 26, of Poltava; Katrina Khaddat, 28, of Donetsk; Nana Kulykova, 23, of Kyiv; Oleksandr Stusenko, 25, of Bar; and Ihor Perenesiyenko, 19, of Poltava.

The eight fourth-place winners were: Anna Malihon, 22, of Konotop; Iryna Novitska, 25, of Lviv; Olesia Vakulanko, 17, of Kharkiv; Artem Zakharchenko, 24, of Chernihiv; Halyna Pustovhar, 28, of Poltava; Anton Marchynskyi, 24, of Zaporizhzhia; and Oksana Svyryda, 20, of Kamianets-Podilskyi.

The Smoloskyp awards, which were accompanied by prize money and books, were presented by Mr. Semkiv and Osyp Zinkevych, president of Smoloskyp, who emphasized that Smoloskyp aims at supporting talented youth and discovering new writers.

Mykhailyna Kotsiubynska, a prominent Ukrainian literary critic, spoke at the ceremony, saying that she attentively observes modern literary processes and urges the young writers to avoid imitation in their works.

Oles Obertas, president of the Museum-Archives of Ukrainian Samvydav, suggested that young scientists write more about dissident and human rights movements in Ukraine. He also suggested they make use of the Smoloskyp Museum-Archives, which have the richest collection of Ukrainian samvydav in Ukraine and abroad.

Concluding the ceremony, the youth theater studio under the direction of Yulia Hasylina recited poetry and excerpts from the laureates' writings. Afterwards, the audience listened to popular music performed by Horda from Zaporizhzhia. The leader of Horda underscored the aim of the group's activities in popularizing Ukrainian youth culture in the eastern regions of Ukraine.

The laureates and guests were then invited to a festive dinner that took place in the Smoloskyp building.

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