Marianna Kiyanovska

Marianna Kiyanovska
Born	17 November 1973
Occupation	Prose writer, literary scholar, literary critic

Marianna Kiyanovska (born 17 November 1973 in Zhovkva) is a Ukrainian poet, translator and a literary scholar and is a recipient of the Shevchenko National Prize (2020) and the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award (2022) for the poetry book The Voices of Babyn Yar. She is a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine and the Ukrainian PEN.

Early life and education

Marianna Kiyanovska was born on 17 November 1973[1] in Zhovkva.[2] She holds a degree in Ukrainian studies[3] from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.[2] She co-created an all-female literary group called ММЮННА ТУГА, together with Natalka Sniadanko, Mariana Savka and others.[4]

Career

She debuted in 1997 with poetry book Reincarnation.[2] Her works have appeared in various anthologies, almanacs and magazines, such as Svitovyd, Suchasnist`, Chetver, Kuryer Kryvbasu, Kalmius, Literatura na Świecie, Studium, Akcent and Ukrainian Quarterly.[2]

In 2011, she founded the Big Hedgehog: the first non-governmental literary award in Ukraine dedicated to honoring authors of books for children and youth.[3] She is the coordinator of the Lviv office[3] of Ukrainian Association of Writers, as well as a member of National Union of Ukrainian Writers and PEN Ukraine.[2]

She works as a translator and has translated to Ukrainian works by Salim Babullaoglu, Julian Tuwim, Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, Adam Wiedemann, Gintaras Grajauskas, and Shota Iatashvili.[2]

Her works have been translated into eighteen languages[5] including English, German and Italian.[2]

Scholarships and awards

She has won scholarships from the Polish “Gaude Polonia” program (2003, 2009, 2016) and a Slovene CEI Fellowship (2007).[2] In 2011, she was among the finalists for the Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski Literary Prize and she became the laureate of the International Festival of Poetry Kyiv Laurs.[2] Two years later she was presented with the Polish Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.[3][5] In 2020, she was awarded the Shevchenko National Prize for The Voices of Babyn Yar[5] poetry book, where she lent her voice to the Jewish victims of the Babi Yar massacre.[6] In 2022, its Polish translation received recognition with a European Poet of Freedom Award; later that year Kiyanovska was also awarded the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award.[7]

Publications

Poetry

• Reincarnation (1997),
• Wreath of sonnets (1999),
• Creation of Myths (2000),
• Love and War (with Mariana Savka, 2000),
• Book of Adam (2004),
• Common Language (2005),
• Something daily (2008),
• To EP (2014),
• 373 (2014),
• Letters from Lithuania/Letters from Lviv (with Mariana Savka, 2016)[2]
• The Voices of Babyn Yar[5] (2017)[6]

Prose

• Path along the river (2008) – stories[2]

See also

• List of Ukrainian-language poets
• List of Ukrainian women writers
• List of Ukrainian literature translated into English

References

1. "Кіяновська Маріанна Ярославівна". Енциклопедія Сучасної України (in Ukrainian). ISBN 9789660220744. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
2. "Kiyanovska Marianna". PEN Ukraine. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
3. "Stolica języka polskiego" (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-02-26.
4. "Savka Maryana". PEN Ukraine. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
5. "HURI Books". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
6. "The Voices of Babyn Yar in the Poetry of Marianna Kiyanovska". Poetry International Online. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
7. "Laureate of The Zbigniew Herbert Award 2022". Fundacja Herberta. Retrieved 2022-10-04.