Kurkov received the German prize for intellectual and aesthetic courage

Andriy Kurkov received the Geschwister-Scholl-Preis 2022 for the book “Invasion Diary”, published in German translation by Haymon Verlag. This was announced on the website of the Munich Literature Festival.

“Two weeks after the russian attack on Ukraine, Andriy Kurkov notes in his “Invasion Diary”: “I shudder as I write these words, but I do it anyway: Either Ukraine will be free, independent and European, or it will not exist at all”. Although it has become clear to many that February 24, 2022 marks a deep historical and political turning point and that the civilized world shares responsibility for protecting Ukraine from destruction, a deeper understanding of what is at stake in this war is still lacking”, the jury emphasized.

The award committee believes that Kurkov “set himself the goal of fighting the widespread ignorance of the history and culture of Ukraine, which he encounters in Western societies. He wants to tell people about the complex and painful past and present of this multinational and multicultural country”.

The award will be presented by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and the City Hall of Munich at a ceremony on November 28, 2022.

Andriy Kurkov is a Ukrainian writer, journalist, screenwriter, former president of Ukrainian PEN. The author of the novels and short stories “The Bickford Fuse”, “Friend of the Deceased”, “Death and the Penguin”, “The President’s Last Love”, “The Milkman in the Night”, “Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv”, “Maidan Diaries”, “Grey Bees”, as well as story books, children’s works and film scripts. Andriy Kurkov’s works have been translated into more than 40 languages.

The Geschwister-Scholl-Preis has been awarded since 1980.

The purpose and task of the Geschwister-Scholl Prize is to annually honor the newest book which “shows intellectual independence and supports civil freedom, moral, intellectual and aesthetic courage and that gives an important impulse to the present awareness of responsibility”. The prize is €10,000. In recent years, the laureates of the prize have been Dina Nayeri, Ahmet Altan, Götz Aly, Achille Mbembe, Glenn Greenwald, Otto Dov Kulka, Liao Yiwu, Joachim Gauck, Roberto Saviano, David Grossman and Anna Politkovskaya.

We would like to remind you that Andriy Kurkov previously received the Prix Médicis in France and became a laureate of the Freedom of Expression Awards 2022.