The laureates received monetary awards, diplomas, medals, as well as the five-volume “Anthology of Ukrainian Patriotic Poetry”.
On June 30, in the assembly hall of the Museum of Ethnography and Art Craft of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, an award ceremony was held for the laureates of the Kateryna Mandryk-Kuibida Regional Literary Prize.
This year’s winners were:
winner of the 3rd prize Vasyl Golovetskyi (Zhytomyr) for the collection “Mother, I was killed in Irpen”;
winner of the 2nd prize Kateryna Tikhonova (Zolochiv) for the collection “Talk in a Whisper”;
laureate of the 1st prize Mykhailo Zhaivoron (Zhytomyr) for the collection “Nest of Height”.
“There is no more powerful weapon in the world than the word. When it comes to artists of the creative word, this word takes on special importance. Especially when it comes to the national and patriotic future of our country. And our freedom depends on talented people like you. Your role is very timely now. Therefore, I wish you to continue to create, write and thereby enrich our Ukrainian language and culture, forming national consciousness and supporting the spirit of Ukrainians,” Ivan Sobko, deputy head of Lviv OVA, congratulated the winners.
Kateryna Mandryk-Kuybida (1927 – 2004) was born in the village of Sukil, now Kalusky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, a participant in the liberation struggle, a long-term political prisoner. At the age of 17, she became a member of the OUN, an underground liaison of the UPA. Arrested in 1950. As a “particularly dangerous criminal” she was sentenced to 10 years of strict labor camps. She returned to Ukraine after 16 years.
During the years of the underground and in the camps, she wrote essays and poems that were published in the years of independence. Several poetry collections were published. The collection “Oh cranes flew” contains more than 170 songs recorded with the voice of Kateryna Kuybida. Rehabilitated in 1991. She was buried at the Lychakiv cemetery.
In 2017, the decision of the Lviv Regional Council approved the Regulations on the Regional Literary Award named after Kateryna Mandryk-Kuybida. She is nominated in the field of national state-building for the best literary work on a patriotic theme. The prize, which has the status of All-Ukrainian, is awarded annually to the authors of new poetic works, which are distinguished by high artistry, a deep reinterpretation of the history of the native people, and a vivid depiction of its centuries-old struggle for freedom and independence. The founders of the award are: Lviv Regional Council, Lviv Regional Organization of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Brotherhood of the OUN – UPA.
This year, 100,000 hryvnias have been allocated for awarding the winners of the Comprehensive Cultural Development Program of the Lviv region.
In 2022, 100 copies of books, the authors of which are winners of the Kateryna Mandryk-Kuibida Regional Literary Award, were given to the libraries of the Lviv Region.
For the implementation of the artistic project “Ukrainians’ first priority is freedom!”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the creation of the UPA and the 95th anniversary of the birth of the poet Kateryna Mandryk-Kuybida, the link of the UPA, in the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Culture of the Lviv Oblast for 2022, 60,000 were provided UAH