The Ukrainian writer and musician Serhij Zhadan receives the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. This was announced by the Board of Trustees on Monday in Frankfurt am Main. Zhadan is considered one of the most important authors in his country.
In its justification, the jury wrote that it honored Zhadan “for his outstanding artistic work and for his humanitarian attitude, with which he turns to people in war and helps them at the risk of his life.” In a poetic and radical tone, he explores how, despite all the violence, people in Ukraine try to lead an independent life determined by peace and freedom.
Zhadan lives in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, and was born near Luhansk in 1974. Heavy fighting has been taking place in Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, since the Russian invasion. In his work, he primarily deals with the time after the collapse of the Soviet Union and with the war that has been raging in Ukraine since 2014. Zhadan’s latest novel “Internat” tells about the war in Donbass.
The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is endowed with 25,000 euros and will be awarded in October during the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Paulskirche. Since 1950, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association has been awarding the prize together with bookstores and the professional organization of publishers.
The statute of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade states: “The foundation serves peace, humanity and understanding between peoples.” Personalities from art, literature and science can be honored. Last year, the Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dnagarembga received the award. She is currently being tried in her home country. The indictment accuses her of inciting violence, breach of the peace and bigotry. Now a court is to decide whether the proceedings should be discontinued.