Ukrainian playwright and director Anastasiya Kosodiy has been named the recipient of the Walter Mossmann Award for 2026. The artist announced this on her Facebook page.
The jury’s decision notes that she is one of the authors who, long before Russia’s full-scale invasion, made the war in Ukraine one of the central themes of her work.
“In a world that seems to be gradually getting used to war and the growing number of victims, Anastasiya Kosodiy manages to express what is difficult to comprehend,” the jury members emphasised.
Anastasiya Kosodiy is a Ukrainian playwright and author of plays on socio-political themes, originally from Zaporizhzhya, currently living and working between Kyiv and Berlin. Her works are staged not only in Ukraine but also in theatres in various European countries.
Kosodiy began her career as a co-founder of the Zaporizhzhya New Drama Theatre and later became one of the initiators of the Kyiv Playwrights’ Theatre. Before the full-scale war began, she actively collaborated with civil society organisations in eastern Ukraine. The artist has also worked with leading European theatre institutions, including the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, the Royal Court Theatre in London, and the Nationaltheater Mannheim.
Among the author’s most famous plays are The Traveller’s Playlist, Eight Short Compositions about the Life of Ukrainians for a Western Audience, and How to Talk to the Dead.
The Walter Mossmann Award is presented every two years for artistic and civic activities that combine culture and social engagement. Walter Mossmann was a German writer, singer and political activist, as well as one of the prominent figures of the left-wing alternative social movements in Germany. The first award in 2024 was presented to writer and activist Sophie Sumbura and political singer Sookee.