Live interview with the winners of the Kovaliv Literary Award in Poetry and Prose, hosted by Vasyl Makhno, renowned poet and Chair of the Kovaliv Award Jury. Poet Iya Kiva — born in Donetsk, displaced by the war in 2014, author of several acclaimed collections, and a member of PEN Ukraine — won first prize for her book The Laughter of an Extinguished Bonfire, a work that captures the pain of today’s war, memory, and loss. Her writing has earned numerous Ukrainian and international honors, including the 2024 Women in Arts: The Resistance award. Prose winner Lyudmyla Taran—a journalist, poet, prose writer, literary scholar, and PEN Ukraine member with a distinguished career in Ukrainian culture and academia—received first prize for her 2024 work Scandal, a masterful mosaic of women’s stories praised by the jury for its skill and boldness in breaking taboos. Hear directly from this year’s awardees, learn about their creative journeys, and celebrate contemporary Ukrainian literature with us.
