Philanthropist Howard G. Buffett and historian Timothy Snyder among this year’s Peterson Literary Fund honourees
TORONTO, October 28, 2025 — The Peterson Literary Fund at BCU Foundation will host its annual awards gala in Toronto on November 29, 2025, to recognize this year’s esteemed honourees. The fund launched its Translated Book Awards in 2021 and, in 2023, established the Journey for Truth Project to encourage the dissemination of information about crimes committed by Russia by supporting publications, documentary films, scholarly research, and international conferences.
Howard G. Buffett,
international philanthropist, investor, author, photographer, and recipient of the Peterson Literary Fund "2025 Journey for Truth Award".
Photo attribution: Press Service, President of Ukraine.
Howard G. Buffett, international investor, philanthropist, author, and photographer, will receive the Peterson Literary Fund’s 2025 Journey for Truth Award. Mr. Buffett’s book, Courage of a Nation, documents three years of war featuring remarkable photographs captured by him during his extensive travels to Ukraine (23 trips to date). As executive producer of the award-winning film, Porcelain War, Mr. Buffett has played a decisive role in raising public awareness about the brutality of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. As Chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, he has overseen the delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, surpassing $1 billion. Mr. Buffett currently serves as a director of the highly successful American holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Timothy Snyder,
Award-winning author of the book "On Freedom," recipient of a 2025 Translated Book Award from the Peterson Literary Fund.
Photo attribution:
Merlin Anthwares
Historian Timothy Snyder, who holds the James Temerty Chair in European History at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (University of Toronto), will receive a 2025 Translated Book Award for his book On Freedom, and will deliver acceptance remarks in the context of the current war in Ukraine. Snyder, the recent recipient of the Vasyl Stus Prize and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize, is a leading scholar on Ukraine and prolific writer on Russia's war of aggression. As author/editor of 20 books, he is an acclaimed expert on modern authoritarianism and its correlation to tyranny, freedom, and international human rights.
Journalist-author Ali Velshi, Chief Correspondent for MSNBC, Senior Economic and Business Correspondent for NBC News, and anchor of the Velshi show, who has reported extensively from Ukraine, will lead part of the evening's conversation.
The awards dinner will likewise honour the winners of the 2025 Translated Book Awards, recognizing the best books in translation that promote a better understanding of Ukraine-related topics relevant to a global audience. The awards carry a cash prize for the winning authors and translators.
The winners of the Peterson Literary Fund 2025
Translated Book Awards are:
On Freedom (Crown Publishing)
Timothy Snyder – Author
Halyna Herasym, Translator - Ukrainian edition
Failed State: A Guide to Russia's Rupture (Jamestown Foundation)
Janusz Bugajski – Author
Hanna Rak, Anna Melnychenko, Oleksandr Okhrimenko, Maria Dubrova, Translators – Ukrainian edition
State of War (Meridian Czernowitz)
Evgenia Lopata, Andriy Lyubka – Editors
Yulia Lyubka & Kate Tsurkan, Translators - English edition
Ukrainian Sunrise. Stories of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions from the Early 2000s (Academic Studies Press)
Kateryna Zarembo – Author
Tetiana Savchynska, Translator – English edition
According to Lisa Shymko, Jury Chair and Chief Administrator of the Peterson Literary Fund, "This year's winning books play a vital role in dismantling the imperialist narratives that Russia propagates to conceal the crimes it has committed in Ukraine. Thanks to the translated editions of these exceptional books, a wider audience of readers will have access to meaningful writing driven by truth and unfiltered facts."
In the view of Bob Leshchyshen, Chair of the Canadian-based BCU Foundation, "the gala program will represent a unique fusion of the world of philanthropy and literature."
The winners were selected by the members of this year's Peterson Literary Fund Jury: Lisa Shymko (Jury Chair), John (Ivan) Jaworsky, Alexander Motyl, Marko R. Stech, and Nadia Gereliouk.
About the Peterson Literary Fund :
The Peterson Literary Fund was established by Canadian philanthropist Stanley Peterson, whose generosity and far-sighted vision created a literary fund with a global reach. The Peterson Literary Fund operates under the auspices of the Toronto-based BCU Foundation.
Launched in 2021, the fund oversees an international literary prize and translated book awards. It also disburses grants for writers, translators, and publishers. In accordance with the wishes of the Peterson Literary Fund’s founding benefactor, the fund is managed by Canadian political scientist Lisa Shymko, who also serves as Jury Chair.
Media enquiries: Tel. (416) 763-7005 Email: office@petersonliteraryfund.com