Our Familiar Hunger Receives the Kobzar Award

Kobzar Award Rosnau

On March 12, 2020, OUR FAMILIAR HUNGER was awarded the Kobzar Book Award. Presented biennially, the $25,000 KOBZAR Book Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who write on a topic with a tangible connection to the Ukrainian Canadian experience. It was an absolutely honour to be on the short list with:

  • The Bone Mother, by David Demchuk (ChiZine Publications, 2017) Purchase Book

  • We All Need to Eat, by Alex Leslie (Book*hug Press, 2018)Purchase Book

  • The North End Revisited, by John Paskievich (University of Manitoba Press, 2017) Purchase Book

  • The Stories Were Not Told: Canada’s First World War Internment Camps, by Sandra Semchuk (University of Alberta Press, 2019) Purchase Book

Because of the specificity of the recognition for work that addresses the Ukrainian Canadian experience, it feels like the greatest honour of my literary life so far. I write that without hyperbole. I straight-up sobbed through my acceptance speech thinking of how happy my Baba & Gedo would be, how delighted they were with all their family's successes, small and large. As Ukrainian Canadian immigrants, they faced hardship and struggle, and yet they were so rich and so blessed with lives full of love, laughter, music, dancing, community, faith, and family. I dedicated the award to the memory of Joseph and Nelli (aka Nancy, aka Nastya!) Proch.

Laisha RosnauComment