Serhij Zhadan Awarded the 2025 Austrian State Prize for European Literature
News30.06.2025
Suhrkamp author Serhiy Zhadan has been awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature 2025.
The prize is awarded annually by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media, and Sport. Federal Minister of Arts and Culture and Vice Chancellor of Austria Andreas Babler had the following to say about this year’s recipient: »Serhiy Zhadan is one of the most striking writers in contemporary European literature and has become the literary voice of the Ukrainian people. His prose poetry, free verse, song lyrics, diary entries, short stories, and novels trace the recent history of Ukraine and allow readers to look deep into the hearts of its inhabitants. Serhiy Zhadan gives literary expression to the horrors of war and the invisible, all-encompassing fear it instils. … He gives the people of Ukraine their voice and their individuality back, which are threatened by Russia’s war of aggression. His work gives voice to what everyday language cannot express. It has the power to bear witness and offer hope in times of war and terror as only literature can. I have deep respect for Serhiy Zhadan, the author, the poet, and the man, with whom I feel a strong sense of solidarity. I congratulate him sincerely!«
In their public remarks, the five-person jury, made up of Raphaela Edelbauer, Klaus Kastberger, Alexander Potyka, Klaus Seufer-Wasserthal, and Anne-Catherine Simon explained their decision to honour Zhadan as follows: »The literary spaces Serhiy Zhadan creates are fascinating, intricate, and always highly vivid and polyphonic, and the author sets them against clearly recognisable historical backdrops. The Russian annexation of Crimea and other areas of eastern Ukraine dominates the novel The Orphanage. It depicts a war that was never declared as such, but which has a disastrous impact on the everyday lives of the people in the region. With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the author’s life and writing have changed radically. Zhadan performed with his rock band at secret locations to support the Ukrainian people and their army, and offered hands-on assistance behind the front lines in the effort to defend the country. In the form of an imaginary diary, he records his notes and observations from that time in the volume Sky Above Kharkiv, which also comprised social media posts. His literature of immediate and unvarnished testimony has also made a great impression in the West. In mid-2024, Zhadan himself joined a volunteer battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard and has been directly involved in the fight against Russian troops ever since. Just a few months ago, the author published a volume of poetry with Suhrkamp Verlag, his German publisher, depicting the turning point of 24 February 2022 as a gaping wound in lyrical language. It is a sign of hope and a hallmark of successful resistance that the war imposed on Ukraine has shaken the voice of literature to its core, but has ultimately not silenced it.«
The Austrian State Prize for European Literature has been awarded since 1965, recognising the literary oeuvre of a European author who has enjoyed international recognition, which is evinced by translations. Their work must also be available in German translation.
The prize is endowed with €25,000. The award ceremony will be held by Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Arts and Culture Andreas Babler on 25 July 2025, during a ceremony at the Salzburger Festspiele. Previous winners include Joanna Bator, Marie NDiaye, Ali Smith, László Krasznahorkai, Drago Jancar, Michel Houellebecq, and Zadie Smith.
The prize is awarded annually by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media, and Sport. Federal Minister of Arts and Culture and Vice Chancellor of Austria Andreas Babler had the following to say about this year’s recipient: »Serhiy Zhadan is one of the most striking writers in contemporary European literature and has become the literary voice of the Ukrainian people. His prose poetry, free verse, song lyrics, diary entries, short stories, and novels trace the recent history of Ukraine and allow readers to look deep into the hearts of its inhabitants. Serhiy Zhadan gives literary expression to the horrors of war and the invisible, all-encompassing fear it instils. … He gives the people of Ukraine their voice and their individuality back, which are threatened by Russia’s war of aggression. His work gives voice to what everyday language cannot express. It has the power to bear witness and offer hope in times of war and terror as only literature can. I have deep respect for Serhiy Zhadan, the author, the poet, and the man, with whom I feel a strong sense of solidarity. I congratulate him sincerely!«
In their public remarks, the five-person jury, made up of Raphaela Edelbauer, Klaus Kastberger, Alexander Potyka, Klaus Seufer-Wasserthal, and Anne-Catherine Simon explained their decision to honour Zhadan as follows: »The literary spaces Serhiy Zhadan creates are fascinating, intricate, and always highly vivid and polyphonic, and the author sets them against clearly recognisable historical backdrops. The Russian annexation of Crimea and other areas of eastern Ukraine dominates the novel The Orphanage. It depicts a war that was never declared as such, but which has a disastrous impact on the everyday lives of the people in the region. With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the author’s life and writing have changed radically. Zhadan performed with his rock band at secret locations to support the Ukrainian people and their army, and offered hands-on assistance behind the front lines in the effort to defend the country. In the form of an imaginary diary, he records his notes and observations from that time in the volume Sky Above Kharkiv, which also comprised social media posts. His literature of immediate and unvarnished testimony has also made a great impression in the West. In mid-2024, Zhadan himself joined a volunteer battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard and has been directly involved in the fight against Russian troops ever since. Just a few months ago, the author published a volume of poetry with Suhrkamp Verlag, his German publisher, depicting the turning point of 24 February 2022 as a gaping wound in lyrical language. It is a sign of hope and a hallmark of successful resistance that the war imposed on Ukraine has shaken the voice of literature to its core, but has ultimately not silenced it.«
The Austrian State Prize for European Literature has been awarded since 1965, recognising the literary oeuvre of a European author who has enjoyed international recognition, which is evinced by translations. Their work must also be available in German translation.
The prize is endowed with €25,000. The award ceremony will be held by Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Arts and Culture Andreas Babler on 25 July 2025, during a ceremony at the Salzburger Festspiele. Previous winners include Joanna Bator, Marie NDiaye, Ali Smith, László Krasznahorkai, Drago Jancar, Michel Houellebecq, and Zadie Smith.