One of my favourite events in Kyiv is the BBC Book of the Year Award, sponsored by the BBC Ukrainian Service. I’ve presented the winner with the prize for the last four years, including in 2010 and this year — you can see a report on the prize, including details of the shortlist and the jury, on the BBC website (in Ukrainian only) along with a podcast of the jury talking about the books (if you haven’t caught up with the BBC Ukrainian Service podcasts, check them out).
Congratulations to the winner, Volodymyr Rutkivskiy, and to all the shortlisted authors including Taras Antynovych, with whom I was delighted to discuss his excellent-sounding sci-fi dystopic novel “Chronos” about a future Ukraine where life-swapping has become a reality. I myself wrote a sci-fi novel with some similar themes back in the ’80s, but unlike him am still looking for a publisher. Respect, Taras.
The jury members of the BBC Book of the Year 2011 Award. 23 December 2011, Kyiv