Young Rusyn poets win major prize for literature

On Saturday, 23 June, the Dukhnovych Prize was awarded to three young writers from Serbia – Slavko Vinaji, Natalija Ribovic and Ivan Medjesi – for their collection Triolohija (Novi Sad, 2006).

The Dukhnovych Prize is given each year to honor and encourage Rusyn writers. The $1000 award was presented to the three poets at the Ninth World Congress of Rusyns and Third World Forum of Rusyn Youth in Sighetu Marmaţiei, Romania.

Triolohija was published in March 2006 by the youth journal MAK under its MAKoff imprint launched by MAK editor Boris Varga. This was the first book of poetry by young Rusyns in Serbia to appear in 17 years (the three poets are 24, 30 and 30 years of age).

Dukhnovych Prize jury member Elaine Rusinko describes the collection as “unusual both visually and linguistically, in form and content. The poems are avant-garde in style and express the thoughts of young Rusyns on contemporary themes in a creative use of the Rusyn language. In the work of the three authors there are suggestions of existentialism and the absurd, and the collection as a whole champions poetic freedom. Not every example is successful, but on the whole, the book is a bold attempt that will surely inspire other young Rusyns of all countries.”

Triolohija is not yet available on the internet, but the third book in the MAKoff line, Obecana zem (The Promised Land), is available here on the internet in .pdf format.