On March 23, the members of the Chapter announced the shortlist of nominees for the Drahomán Prize for translators from Ukrainian into world languages for 2025.

The finalists of the award are:

• Alessandro Achilli and Yaryna Grusha with a translation into Italian of Iryna Shuvalova’s poetry collection Endsongs
• Nina Murray with the English translation of Lesia Ukrainka’s dramatic poem Cassandra
• Nils Håkanson with the Swedish translation of Sofia Andrukhovych’s novel Amadoka

The Special Award from the Chapter for a profound contribution to building a shared context between two distant cultures will be awarded to Mridula Ghosh, a translator of Ukrainian into Bengali.

The award ceremony of the Drahomán Prize 2025 will take place on April 23. The winner will receive a statuette by Ukrainian artist Anna Zvyagintseva, a cash prize of EUR 3,000 , provided by the ЗMIN Foundation with the support of the Cultural Diplomacy Foundation, as well as additional opportunities for professional development and promotion of their work.

This year's long list of the Drahomán Prize included 31 translators and translation tandems who translate from Ukrainian into English, German, Italian, Polish, Georgian, Romanian, Swedish, French, Norwegian, Slovak, Bengali, Serbian, Czech, Slovenian, Hebrew, Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Portuguese.

Applications for the Prize were received from 26 countries, namely Italy, the United States, Norway, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Spain, India, Georgia, Sweden, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, Finland, Portugal, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Brazil, Greece, France, and the Netherlands.

The Drahomán Prize was launched in 2020 by the Ukrainian Institute, PEN Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Book Institute to support and acknowledge translators from Ukrainian into languages of the world. It is awarded for excellence in translation and contribution to the promotion of Ukrainian literature abroad.

The shortlist and the laureate of the award are determined by the Chapter of the prize, which consists of 9 members. The Chapter consists of reputable translators, linguists, literary scholars, and cultural managers, as the Director General of the Ukrainian Institute, the President of PEN Ukraine, and the Director of the Ukrainian Book Institute. The 2025 Chapter members include Volodymyr Sheiko, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Oleksandra Koval, Iaroslava Strikha, Alla Tatarenko, Eero Balk, Rory Finnin, Iryna Zabiiaka, and Sofiia Onufriv.

The German translator Claudia Dathe became the first laureate of the Prize in 2020. Imadeddine Raef, a translator from Ukrainian into Arabic, was awarded the Special Award from the Chapter "for excellence in translation and promotion of Ukrainian classical literature."

The Polish translator, writer, and literary critic Bohdan Zadura became the laureate of the 2021 Drahomán Prize. The Special Award from the Chapter "for filigree translation of the classics of Ukrainian literary modernism and contribution to the promotion of Ukrainian literature in Europe" was awarded to Tobias Wals, a Ukrainian-to-Dutch translator.

The French translator Iryna Dmytrychyn became the laureate of the 2022 Drahomán Prize. The Special Award from the Chapter "for a particular contribution in translating and promoting Ukrainian literature, and in developing Ukrainian studies in Italy" was awarded to Giovanna Brogi, a translator from Ukrainian into Italian.

The Polish translator Katarzyna Kotyńska was named the 2023 laureate of the Drahomán Prize. The Special Award from the Chapter "for building cultural bridges between Ukraine and Georgia" was awarded to Raul Chilachava, a translator from Ukrainian into Georgian.

The Finnish translator Eero Balk has been awarded the 2024 Drahomán Prize. The Special Award from the Chapter “for  high professionalism and humanism in developing the Ukrainian-Lithuanian literary dialogue was given to Vytas Dekšnys, a translator from Ukrainian into Lithuanian.

Media partners of the Drahomán Prize: Radio Kultura, Chytomo, Ukrainska Pravda.

The partner of this year's Drahomán Prize is the ЗMIN Foundation, with the support of the Cultural Diplomacy Foundation.

Ukrainian Institute is a government entity. Its mission is to promote Ukraine internationally and to develop deep cultural relations with other countries and nations. Since 2018, the Institute has been operating globally with its headquarters in Kyiv. In 2023, the first representative offices were opened in Europe: Berlin (Germany) and Paris (France). The Ukrainian Institute operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

PEN Ukraine is a cultural and human rights NGO uniting Ukrainian intellectuals – writers, journalists, scholars, publishers, translators, human rights defenders, culture managers. With 186 members, it is one of 139 national centers of PEN International. It is a co-founder of the Vasyl Stus Prize, the Yuri Shevelyov Prize, and the George Gongadze Prize.

Ukrainian Book Institute is a government entity affiliated to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. Its mission is to develop state policy in the book sector, promote book reading in Ukraine, support book publishing, encourage translation activity, and popularize Ukrainian literature abroad.