The English-language edition of Ukrainian writer Anna Malihon’s poetry collection «Girl with a Bullet» (Girl with a Bullet) has been shortlisted for the 2026 National Translation Award in Poetry in the United States. The prize is awarded annually by the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA).
The writer announced this on her Facebook page.
The English translation of the book was produced by Olesya Jennings. The collection was published by World Poetry Books.
The book was highly praised by the jury, which included Karen Kovacik, Karen Leeder and Robin Creswell.
The judges noted that the collection includes poems dating back to 2012, but that its emotional core is Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They observed that the author moves from strictly rhymed poetry to free verse, which better conveys the despair and alienation of someone fleeing war.
The experts also highlighted the work of translator Olesya Jennings. In their words, she “follows the author into the trenches, as well as into everyday moments of love and hope, with the appropriate intensity”.
Anna Malihon is a Ukrainian poet and literary prizewinner, the author of six poetry collections and one novel. Her work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies and translated into Bulgarian, Polish, Czech, French and other languages. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the writer left Ukraine and now lives in Paris.
Olesya Jennings is an American writer and translator. She is the author of the poetry collections «An Age of Mysteries» and «The Memory Project», as well as the novel «Temporary Shelter». She has translated works by Ukrainian authors including Kateryna Kalytko, Iryna Shuvalova, Vasyl Makhno and Yuliia Musakovska. Jennings lives in New York, where she founded the publishing imprint and reading series «Poets of Queens».