Ukraine's Chytomo Awards Open 2026 Nominations With a New Category
Nominations are open for the 2026 Chytomo Awards for Outstanding Achievements in Publishing, and this year's round includes a category that did not exist before. Publishing Perspectives reported the opening on 10 November 2026.
The awards are now in their fourth year. They were set up in 2023 by Chytomo, a media outlet that covers books and publishing in Ukraine. Nominations will stay open through 23 November, so anyone following the process has about two weeks to take part.
The new addition is called Local Change Attribution. It recognises initiatives that support cultural life in local communities, improve access to books and reading, and involve military personnel and veterans. Projects in frontline communities, meaning towns and villages close to the fighting, get preference.
Winners in each category will receive 150,000 hryvnia, the Ukrainian currency, which is approximately US$3,285. The awards are supported by two funders: the International Renaissance Foundation and the Mnozhyna Foundation. A foundation, in this sense, is a non-profit body that pays for cultural and charitable work rather than selling anything.
What stands out here is where the new category looks. Most literary prizes reward authors, translators or books that reached the market. This one points at the people and places that bring books to readers, such as a community library, a reading programme or a project run with veterans. It is a reminder that a book only does its work once it reaches a shelf, and that somebody has to make that happen.
The Chytomo Awards have one clear message for the publishing world: the work of getting books to people is now part of what gets recognised. For readers in Ukraine and beyond, the call for nominations is the first step in a process that will eventually name winners in every category.
