The poetry collection «dasein: defence of presence» (C’est ainsi que nous demeurons libres) by Ukrainian poet and servicewoman Yaryna Chornohuz has been awarded the French prize named after Alain Bosquet, the Ukrainian Institute in France reports.
According to the description, Chornohuz’s poems are a kind of letters from the front about the pain of losing fallen comrades; about being at war here and now; about recognising and accepting her own decision to go and fight; about what the world will look like after all the pain that tears you apart from within; and about what it means to defend a person’s presence in this world. Chornohuz wrote these texts over a year and a half of rotation at the front, much of it during the full-scale war.
“The jury said this prize is awarded for extraordinary, philosophical and courageous poetry. It was gratifying that this is exactly how writers and editors on the prize jury see my work,” Chornohuz shares.
In Ukraine, the book was published by «Vikhola» in 2023. The French translation by Ella Yevtushenko and Frédéric Marten, who were also honoured by the prize, was published by «Le Tripode» in 2025.
As the author notes, citing «Le Tripode», more than 3,700 copies of the book have been sold in France in a year, from a print run of 5,000.
The award ceremony took place on 24 September. During the event, Chornohuz and Marten read her poem «If You and I Stay Alive» — the work that gave Marten the idea of publishing the collection in French after he heard Chornohuz perform the poem in 2024.
About Yaryna Chornohuz:
- Ukrainian poet, volunteer and a Marine Corps servicewoman;
- recipient of a number of awards, including the Shevchenko Prize and the Women in Arts award in the «Women in Literature» category;
- author of the collections «How the Circle of War Bends» (2020) and «Night Saffron» (2025)
About the Alain Bosquet Prize:
- founded by publisher Antoine Gallimard in 1999 and named in honour of the French writer Alain Bosquet;
- it is awarded by «Gallimard» to poets who write in French and to foreign poets whose work has been translated into French, as well as to their translators;
- the prize is presented at «Gallimard»’s offices in Paris.