Winnipeg, October 13, 2021 – The Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko is pleased to announce the shortlisted titles for the 2022 KOBZAR™ Book Award.
Presented biennially, the $25,000 KOBZAR™ Book Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who write on a topic with a tangible connection to the experiences of Ukrainian Canadians. As the Ukrainian community celebrates 130 years in Canada, the Ukrainian stories are limitless. KOBZAR™ Book Award entries can weave through fascinating moments in world history, acquaint us with the lives of both one and the many, introduce us to the challenges of different generations and waves of immigration. Ultimately, they paint a picture of a people that proudly continues to shape the Canada we know today.
Distinctive to this Award is monetary recognition for both the winner and the winner’s publisher.
This year’s jury, Kerry Clare (49th Shelf), Laisha Rosnau (Author and winner of the KOBZAR™ Book Award 2020), and Ben Sigurdson (Winnipeg Free Press), is very excited to include on the shortlist a novel, a graphic novel, and a book of poetry – three styles of literature as diverse as the Ukrainian Canadian experiences which the KOBZAR™ Book Award strives to recognize.
The shortlisted titles for the 2022 KOBZAR™ Book Award are:
The Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko is a national, chartered philanthropic institution dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and development of the Ukrainian Canadian cultural heritage. In building and sustaining a permanent endowment fund, the Foundation strengthens the Ukrainian community in Canada and enriches the Canadian experience with the beauty, passion, and diversity of Ukrainian Canadian culture.
The 2022 KOBZAR™ Book Award will be presented on March 24, 2022, at a ceremony in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
For more information, contact:
Bohdana Bashuk, Executive Director
(204) 944-9128
bohdana@shevchenkofoundation.ca
Irka Mycak, Communications and Community Relations Officer
416-919-6566
iryna@shevchenkofoundation.ca
Backgrounders:
KOBZAR™ Book Award history and description.
KOBZAR™ Book Award juror biographies.
The KOBZAR™ Book Award
Presented biennially, the $25,000 KOBZAR™ Book Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who write on a topic with a tangible connection to the experiences of Ukrainian Canadians. Genres include literary non-fiction, fiction, poetry, young readers’ literature, play, screenplay, and musical. Distinctive to this Award is monetary recognition for both the winner and the winner’s publisher.
The Shevchenko Foundation launched the KOBZAR™ Literary Award at Hart House in Toronto on May 14, 2003. The inaugural Award Ceremony was held in March 2006 in Toronto. At the 2018 Award Ceremony, the Shevchenko Foundation announced a change in the name of the award to KOBZAR™ Book Award to better reflect the many different genres of works submitted for award consideration.
The Award fills a very important niche in the Canadian and North American book and literary awards scene. It impacts the lives of authors by giving them recognition while providing resources to enable them to continue their work. It also creates a place for the experiences and stories of Ukrainian Canadians.
In a world where we are bombarded with information, sound bites, and uncurated content, the KOBZAR™ Book Award carves out an avenue for documenting the stories and history of Ukrainian culture in Canada.
The KOBZAR™ Book Award is named for the travelling 19th-century minstrel wanderers, “Kobzars,” who narrated and sang a repertoire of historic epics, religious and folk songs, and stories of the day to the instrumental accompaniment of a bandura or kobza.
The KOBZAR™ Book Award Jury
Laisha Rosnau is an award-winning poet and novelist. She is the author of Little Fortress (Wolsak & Wynn, 2019), the best-selling novel, The Sudden Weight of Snow (McClelland & Stewart, 2002), and four critically acclaimed, award-winning collections of poetry, most recently Our Familiar Hunger (Nightwood, 2018). Her work has won the Blue Heron Poetry Prize, the Acorn-Plantos Poetry Award, and the 2020 KOBZAR™ Book Award. Her work has also been nominated for several awards, including the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Pat Lowther Award, and three times for the CBC Poetry Prize.
Kerry Clare is a National Magazine Award-nominated writer, editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood, and author of two novels, Mitzi Bytes and Waiting for a Star to Fall. She teaches blogging at MyBlogSchool.ca, is editor of the Canadian books website 49thShelf.com, and has been a blogger for twenty years, currently at PickleMeThis.com.
Ben Sigurdson is the Literary Editor at the Winnipeg Free Press. Launching his career in the newsroom in 2012, Ben rekindled his love for all things literary and started a new chapter at the Free Press in 2014 with the retirement of esteemed books editor Morley Walker. He also writes about wine, beer, and spirits for the paper. Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Politics from the University of Winnipeg as well as a Master of Arts degree in English (writing stream) from the University of Manitoba.
