A Canadian literary fund with Ukrainian roots and a global reach
The 2024 Peterson Literary Prize Winner
Our Enemies Will Vanish is a revelatory eyewitness account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the heroism of the Ukrainian people in their resistance, written by Yaroslav Trofimov, the chief foreign-affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimov has spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war’s decisive moments—from the battle for Kyiv to more recently the gruelling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut—to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world’s great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people—people Trofimov knows very well.
For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyiv and his family has lived there for generations. With deep empathy and local understanding, Trofimov tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens—doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers—risked their lives and lost loved ones. He blends their brave and tragic stories with expert military analysis, providing unique insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership and mapping out the decisive stages of what has become a perilous war for Ukraine, the Putin regime, and indeed, the world.
This brutal, catastrophic struggle is unfolding on another continent, but the United States and its NATO allies have become deeply implicated. As the war drags on, it threatens to engulf the world. We cannot look away. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, Our Enemies Will Vanish is a riveting, vivid, and first-hand account of the Ukrainian refusal to surrender. It is the story of ordinary people fighting not just for their homes and their families but for justice and democracy itself.
Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence
Yaroslav Trofimov – Author / Press Release
Penguin Press — Publisher
Yaroslav Trofimov / Author
Yaroslav Trofimov is the chief foreign-affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for two consecutive years, in 2022 and 2023. Before covering the Russian war on Ukraine, he reported on most major conflicts of the past two decades, serving as the Journal’s bureau chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a correspondent in Iraq. He holds an MA from New York University and is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Faith at War and The Siege of Mecca.
The Peterson Literary Fund is pleased to announce the finalists of the 2024
Peterson Literary Prize
![Деокупація. Історії опору українців. 2022 [De-occupation. Stories of Ukrainian resistance 2022]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604e7722dad32a12b242445a/b5516a26-8747-4d02-831d-385b8bb7f8bb/deoccupation_cover_print_page-0001.jpg)
![Бахмут [Bakhmut]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604e7722dad32a12b242445a/1732135741481-SN7AXOIIJ2VAQN9K1WWR/Bakhmut_cover_final_page-0001.jpg)
2024 Awards Gala
Acceptance Speeches / Interviews / Keynote Speeches
Upcoming deadlines
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Peterson Literary Prize
The Peterson Literary Prize is a biennial international book prize recognizing original works of nonfiction written in English or Ukrainian. The prize is awarded in even-numbered years.
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Established Writers Grant
The Established Writers Grant is designed for established writers whose proposed manuscript has received approval from a reputable publisher. The grant is awarded to a work of fiction or non-fiction, written in English or Ukrainian, whose subject matter promotes a better understanding of the Ukrainian experience or is deemed relevant to the global Ukrainian community.
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Emerging Writers Grant
All Writers Grants offered by the Peterson Literary Fund are awarded in two-year cycles, in even-numbered years.
The Emerging Writers Grant is designed for new writers who have not yet been published in book form. Grants are given to writers of both works of fiction and non-fiction, written in English or Ukrainian, whose subject matter promotes a better understanding of the Ukrainian experience or is deemed relevant to the global Ukrainian community.
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Translated Book Award
The Peterson Literary Fund Translated Book Award is presented biennially. The Translated Book Award recognizes the best recently published translated books of non-fiction or fiction.
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Translation-in-Progress Grant
The Translation-in-Progress Grant is awarded biennially to deserving translators of literary works of fiction and non-fiction that promote a better understanding of Ukraine or the Ukrainian people or are deemed to be of significant interest to the global Ukrainian community.
The importance and timeliness of this book lie in the opportunity to give a voice to the people who survived the Russian occupation. In the foreword, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk writes, “It often lacks resonance against the backdrop of statements by politicians who suggest handing over the occupied territories to the aggressor country and satisfying its imperial appetites. The voice of the survivors makes such appeals immoral.”
Деокупація. Історії опору українців. 2022 [De-occupation. Stories of Ukrainian resistance 2022]
Bogdan Logvynenko – Author
Ukraїner — Publisher
The importance and timeliness of this book lie in the opportunity to give a voice to the people who survived the Russian occupation. In the foreword, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk writes, “It often lacks resonance against the backdrop of statements by politicians who suggest handing over the occupied territories to the aggressor country and satisfying its imperial appetites. The voice of the survivors makes such appeals immoral.”
Each story has its own narrator, people who agreed to describe their experiences. Alongside the eyewitness accounts of shelling, torture, and atrocities committed by the occupiers against civilians, there are life-affirming stories about saving an old oak tree, resistance to the Russians, and happy moments of liberation. After all, as one of the book’s heroes said, “We hear cannonades, but my heart is calm: these are Ukrainians.”
”De-occupation” differs visually from the rest of our books by the publishing house, as the photographs in it are in black and white and carry an additional emotional impact. At the same time, this makes the book more affordable for the general public. The publication is part of a multimedia project, so all the photos can be viewed in colour on the website, and you can also watch videos from the expedition if you like.
The book’s title and headings are set in the Volja font by Ukrainian type designer and graphic arts researcher Marcela Mozhyna. She created it as a tribute to the work of Nil Khasevych, a famous graphic artist of the mid-20th century who is considered the chief artist of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.