“Oblivion” and “Thirteen Tales in the Dark” win BBC Ukrainian Book of the Year and Children’s Book of the Year 2016 awards

BBC Ukrainian today announced the winners of its Book of the Year 2016 awards presented in partnership with the Cultural Programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).  “Oblivion” (“Забуття”) by Tanya Malyarchuk was named the BBC Book of the Year 2016 while Halyna Tkachuk’s “Thirteen Tales in the Dark” (“Тринадцять історій у темряві”) won the BBC Children’s Book of the Year 2016 award.    

Europe Region Editor, BBC World Service, Artyom Liss, says:  “The 2016 winner of BBC Book of the Year raises very important questions – about memory, about how the past relates to the present, and about self-identification of a society and of people within it.  For twelve years now BBC Book of the Year awards have introduced the Ukrainian readers to the best literary works produced in the country.  The novel by Tanya Malyarchuk takes its rightful place among the brilliant laureates of the BBC Book awards.”

EBRD Managing Director for Communications, Jonathan Charles, adds:  “Today marks five years since the EBRD’s Cultural Programme joined BBC Ukrainian to support new literature for adults and children. The world looks very different in 2016 than it did in 2012. A lot has changed, and every day we are faced with new challenges. But it is important to remember a lesson from the scary stories in this year’s Children’s Book of the Year: not all monsters are real, some monsters are simply unusual but friendly creatures, and darkness can be defeated with laughter.”

The two winning authors are awarded a Ukrainian hryvnya equivalent of £1,000 for each book.  The publishers of the winning books - Vydavnytstvo Starogo Leva, Lviv, and Tempora, Kiev - will have the right to use the logos of the BBC Ukrainian book awards on subsequent editions. 

The Reader of the Year 2016 prize for the best reader reviews went to: Hanna Kobylyakova for her review of Kateryna Babkina’s “The Hat and the Whale” («Шапочка і Кит») in the children’s book category; and Olena Romanenko – for her review of “Old Women’s House” (“Баборня”)  by Myroslav Layuk.  The winning reviewers will each receive an eReader.    

The BBC Book of the Year awards were judged by: 

• Vira Ageyeva, professor, Ukraine National University “Kiev-Mohyla Academy”
• Olga Gerasymiuk, journalist
• Andrei Kurkov, writer
• Svitlana Pyrkalo, EBRD Cultural Advisor
• Marta Shokalo, Desk Editor, BBC Ukrainian.

For more information about the awards and for the readers’ reviews, please go to bbc.ua.