Prose: 7 Popular Ukrainian Authors Whose Books Have Been Translated Abroad
Every year, about 150-200 Ukrainian books are published in foreign languages. From star contemporary writers to representatives of the immortal classics, from historical journalism to children's books. Neither the covid crisis nor the Russian war hindered these processes.
Contemporary Ukrainian prose remains the most interesting for foreign publishers. Last year, contracts were signed for the translation of at least 65 books. At least 30 poetry collections by Ukrainian authors were also published. Ukrainian classics, non-fiction books, children's and teenage books were also translated. Here is a list of books by popular Ukrainian authors from Chytomo, a Ukrainian media outlet that covers book publishing and reading.
Andriy Kurkov
Last year, Andriy Kurkov became the leader in translations of fiction. As many as 12 of his books were published abroad. In particular, his novel Grey Bees was published in Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Last year, this particular novel also received several foreign awards: the Quebec Booksellers' Prize, the American National Book Critics Circle Award, the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award from the American literary magazine Foreword Reviews, and the Athens Prize for the best foreign novel.
Serhiy Zhadan
Five prose books by Serhiy Zhadan have also been published abroad. In particular, the Ukrainian Book Institute supported four translations of his novels under the Translate Ukraine programme: "Voroshilovgrad - into Swedish, Spanish and Croatian. At the same time, his novels Boarding School and Despatch of the Mods were published in the Czech Republic.
Oksana Zabuzhko
Oksana Zabuzhko, who was a member of the Berlinale Film Festival jury this year, published four books of fiction abroad last year. In particular, Field Studies on Ukrainian Sex was translated into Slovenian and Estonian (with the support of the Ukrainian Book Institute). And The Museum of Abandoned Secrets was published in Norway and Lithuania.
Sofia Andrukhovych
Sofia Andrukhovych continues to be actively published abroad. Thus, one of the world's largest publishing houses, Simon & Schuster, acquired the worldwide English translation rights to her novel Amadoka. The rights were acquired by Simon & Schuster's subsidiaries: Avid Reader Press in the US and Scribner UK.
Amadoka was also published in Austria. Residenz Verlag decided to divide the novel into three parts and published the first two (the second was supported by the Book Institute). Part 3 is scheduled for release in October 2024. The novel was translated by Oleksandr Kratokhvil and Maria Weissenbeck. In addition, Felix Austria was translated in the United States. The book is expected to be published in spring 2024.
Andriy Lyubka
The Translate Ukraine programme also translated Andriy Lyubka's novel Carbide into Slovak and Macedonian. The book appeared in Slovak bookshops in September, and in October it became the book of the month in the oldest independent bookshop chain Artforum. In addition, a Croatian edition of the novel is being prepared.
Olena Stiazhkina
In October 2023, Olena Stiazhkina's novel The Death of Cecil the Lion Made Sense was published in German. The book was published by the academic publishing house Friedrich Mauke. In addition, the Ukrainian Research Institute of Harvard University is preparing to publish Stiazhkina's book Ukraine, War, Love. Donetsk Diary".
Yevheniia Kuznetsova
Yevheniia Kuznetsova's book The Ladder, which won the BBC Book of the Year Award in 2013, was translated in North Macedonia. The translation was supported by UIC. In February of this year, a Polish edition of the novel will also be published, also translated by Iwona Boruszkowska (Znak Publishing House), who has already worked on the novel Ask Miechka.
A full list of the best Ukrainian authors whose works have been translated abroad can be found on the Chytomo website.