A Ukrainian writer has received Italy's most prestigious literary award
Yaryna Hrusha, a Ukrainian writer, translator, and professor at the University of Milan, has been awarded the prestigious Italian literary prize, the Viareggio-Rèpaci. She was awarded the prize for her significant contribution to contemporary literature and the promotion of Ukrainian culture abroad.
Yaryna Hrush received a special international award for her debut novel, *The Blue Album* (L’Album Blu).
The award is exceptionally significant. The Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize is among Italy’s most prestigious literary awards.
A novel about Ukraine, written in
Italian It is known that the novel “The Blue Album” (L’Album Blu) was Yaryna Hrusha’s debut book. It was published in 2026 by one of Italy’s most renowned publishing houses, Bompiani.
According to the author, the plot is deeply rooted in Ukrainian history and imbued with personal pain and experience:
- the events of the novel begin to unfold after the terrible accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant;
- at the center of the story is a young girl named Yaryna, whose formative years and coming of age coincide with pivotal moments in Ukraine’s history: the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Orange Revolution, and the Revolution of Dignity.
While working on the book, the author skillfully wove her own childhood memories of these momentous historical events into the narrative.
It is worth noting that the novel *The Blue Album* was written in Italian. However, Yaryna Hrusha has already announced on her Facebook page that she is working on translating her own work from Italian into Ukrainian. The Ukrainian translation of *The Blue Album* will be published by the renowned “Old Lion Publishing House.” The book’s release in Ukraine is scheduled for next year.
The award’s international jury highly praised not only the novel’s artistic merit but also the author’s important cultural mission. The experts specifically noted Yaryna Hrusha’s enormous contribution to the dissemination and promotion of Ukrainian culture in Italy and across Europe.
The judges also emphasized the author’s exceptional writing skill, noting her ability to delicately weave together key and sensitive themes in her work: "...masterful writing that combines themes of memory, identity, and civic responsibility."
It should be noted that the Viareggio Repacci Prize was established in 1929 and is among Italy’s most prestigious literary awards. It is awarded to authors of the finest works of fiction, poetry, and essays.
The special international award received by Yaryna Hrusha this year is further evidence that Ukrainian literature is making an increasingly confident mark on the European cultural scene, and that stories about Ukraine are resonating with an international readership.
The Ukrainian woman’s success in Italy was officially announced on the Ukrainian Book Institute’s Facebook page.
As a reminder, the Liberos’ series of photos on the war in Ukraine received a Getty Images award.
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