Winner 2022 Peterson Literary Prize Announced

December 1, 2022

TORONTO – The Peterson Literary Fund at BCU Foundation is pleased to announce that Taras Kuzio, author of Russian Nationalism and the Russian-Ukrainian War: Autocracy-Orthodoxy-Nationality, is the winner of the 2022 Peterson Literary Prize for nonfiction. The book is published by Taylor & Francis/Routledge (United Kingdom). The winner was revealed at a gala dinner held on December 1st at the Old Mill Toronto.

In the words of the Awards Jury: “This timely and relevant book places imperial nationalism and chauvinism at the centre of Putin’s Russia and identifies them as the driving pretext for the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The book highlights a Tsarist Russian imperial denial of the existence of a distinct Ukrainian nation, as reflected in Putin’s obsession with Ukraine. The author traces the intensification of Russian chauvinism towards Ukraine and Ukrainians through three critical junctures in Putin’s political career. The book also investigates nationalism within the Russian Orthodox Church and pinpoints the dangerous rise of the red-white-brown (Soviet-Tsarist-fascist) nationalist coalition under Vladimir Putin.”

The Peterson Literary Prize is valued at $30,000 Canadian. The winning author will receive a prize of $25,000 Canadian dollars. An additional $5,000 CAD will be awarded to the book’s publisher. Shortlisted Finalists will each receive $5,000 CAD.

This year’s finalists are:

• Детокс [Detox]  
  Editor-in-chief: Larysa Ivshyna   Publisher: День. Українська прес-група [The Day. Ukraine Press Group] / Country: Ukraine
  Language: Ukrainian

• Єврейсько-Українські відносини. ХХ сторіччя. [Jewish-Ukrainian Relations. The Twentieth Century]
  Author: Alik Gomelsky Publisher: Український Пріоритет [Ukrainian Priority] / Country: Ukraine
  Language: Ukrainian

• Лицарі голодного Ренесансу [Knights of the Hungry Renaissance]
  Author: Dmytro Horbachov  Publisher: Дух і Літера [Spirit and Letter Publishing House] / Country: Ukraine
  Language: Ukrainian

• Світлий Шлях. Історія одного концтабору [The Torture Camp on Paradise Street]
  Author: Stanislav Aseyev Publisher: Видавництво Старого Лева [The Old Lion Publishing House] / Country: Ukraine   
  Language: Ukrainian

• Ukraine, the Middle East, and the West
  Author: Thomas M. Prymak Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press / Country: Canada   
  Language: English

According to Lisa Shymko, Chair of the Jury, “Notwithstanding the unimaginable challenges faced by authors and publishers in Ukraine resulting from Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, we received a significant number of nominations from Ukrainian publishers. This year’s competition was very intense and a number of strong contenders were named finalists.”

The Peterson Literary Fund seeks to promote a better understanding of issues related to Ukraine and Ukrainians and to recognize exceptional written works that are of interest to a global audience. The Peterson Literary Prize is a biennial international book prize recognizing original works of nonfiction written in English or Ukrainian. The fund offers six distinct programs, including its cornerstone literary prize, a translated book award, screenplay award, and several targeted grants for writers and translators.

Visit PetersonLiteraryFund.com  for more information on the fund’s programs, guidelines, and Awards Jury.