Peace Prize of the German Book Trade: Award goes to Ukrainian writer Serhij Zhadan

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Peace Prize Winner 2022: Serhij Zhadan

Photo: Marko Lipus / picture alliance

Serhij Zhadan will receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2022.

"We honor the Ukrainian writer and musician for his outstanding artistic work and for his humanitarian attitude, with which he turns to people in war and helps them at the risk of his life," said the foundation board on Monday morning in Frankfurt am Main.

In his novels, essays, poems and song lyrics, Zhadan »leads us into a world that has undergone major upheavals and at the same time lives on tradition.

His lyrics tell how war and destruction enter this world and shake people," it said.

In doing so, the writer finds his own language, which clearly and differentiatedly shows us what many have not wanted to see for a long time.

Thoughtful and listening, in a poetic and radical tone, Serhij Zhadan explores »how the people in Ukraine, despite all the violence, try to lead an independent life determined by peace and freedom«.

The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is endowed with 25,000 euros.

It honors personalities who have contributed to the realization of the idea of ​​peace in literature, science or art.

The German Book Trade Association, the professional organization of publishers and bookstores, has been awarding the prize since 1950. The award is presented at the end of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

This year it will take place from October 19th to 23rd.

Last year the author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga from Zimbabwe received the award.

She is accused of public incitement to violence, breach of the peace and bigotry in her home country.

She took part in anti-government protests in July 2020 and was briefly arrested.

The 63-year-old has to justify herself before an anti-corruption court in the capital Harare, which reports directly to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The trial is about the very issues that the author, who is married to a German, has been campaigning for in books and films for decades: discrimination, human rights, persecution and corruption.

If convicted, Dangarembga faces several years in prison.

The German Publishers & Booksellers Association, PEN Berlin, PEN Center Germany, the Peace Prize Foundation Council and the Orlanda Verlag are calling on the court to immediately drop the proceedings against the writer and journalist Julie Barnes.

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