80TH COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLODOMOR WRITING COMPETITION RESULTS
In 2013 the third Holodomor Writing Competition was held under the auspices of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). This year’s competition, advertised across the country resulted in 26 accepted submissions from many parts of Canada including Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Edmonton, North Battleford, Ottawa, Yorkton and Mississauga. This was also the first time that the competition was promoted in Canadian school boards, and the Toronto Holodomor Education Team is pleased to announce that some of the entries from non-Ukrainians received honourable mentions.
The Holodomor Writing Competition was open to high school students 14 to 19 years of age. Using historical facts of the 1932-33 Holodomor in Ukraine, students were able to choose to submit an entry in any of the following categories: historical short fiction, historical research essay, poetry or lyrics for a song, interview with or biography of survivor, dramatic skit or short play. Entries could be submitted in English or Ukrainian. The Toronto Holodomor Education Team is pleased to announce that there were 12 submissions in the Ukrainian language and 14 in English.
The adjudicators, who are professional educators and historians, would like to thank everyone for their entries, and note that they had a very difficult time choosing this year’s winners. After carefully reviewing each submission, the judging panel selected the three winners as well as seven honourable mentions. Congratulations go out to:
First Place ($700): Sofiya Yusypovych, Toronto (Historical short fiction)
Second Place ($500): Yana Kibalnyk, Edmonton (Historical short fiction)
Third Place ($300): Melania Antoszko, Edmonton (Historical research essay)
Honourable Mentions ($100 each):
Joseph Sliva, Yorkton (Historical research essay)
Luke Joseph Savard, Winnipeg (Historical short fiction)
Anna Lopatnyuk, Hamilton (Historical short fiction)
Marko Boychuk, Edmonton (Historical short story)
Luca Settembrini, Toronto (Historical poem)
Brittany Chirko, Winnipeg (Historical short fiction)
Sergio Raez Villanueva, Mississauga (Historical short fiction)
The information about the winners and their submissions will be placed on the UCC website under the National Holodomor Education Committee: www.ucc.ca/programs/committees, the Toronto UCC website: www.faminegenocide.ca, and on the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) website: www.holodomor.ca
Special thanks to the five adjudicators who donated their time, expertise, and energy: Dr. Olga Andrievsky, Dr. Oksana Kuryliw, Oksana Levytsky, Olivia Pyniansky and Lidia Smilka. Moreover, this competition would not have been possible without the generous funding of prize money provided by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the organizing efforts of the National Holodomor Education Committee (Valentina Kuryliw, Chair) and the Toronto Holodomor Education Team (Lesia Korobaylo, Coordinator), and the support of the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
The Toronto Holodomor Education Team is currently reviewing future competition requirements and is expanding the scope of entries, which may include DVDs, PowerPoints, slideshows, and other electronic media as well as written submissions.
Once again, thank you to everyone who took part in this year’s competition.
