Serhiy Zhadan ranked second in the list of cultural figures of the year
"The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ranked Zhadan second, noting that the Ukrainian writer had become the face of the Ukrainian resistance.
First place in the rankings went to Iranian women who come out to protest despite arrests and death sentences.
Third place in the ranking went to the 1981 Booker Prize-winning American-British author of Indian origin, Salman Rushdie.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote about Sergei Zhadan as follows:
Until 24 February, the day Russia attacked, he was the most famous Ukrainian writer of his generation, but since then he has become the face of all resisting Ukraine. From this resistance, Zhadan not only speaks to the world, reporting on horrors and crimes against humanity, above all he speaks to his own people.
There is already a reaction from the Ukrainian writer to being ranked:
FAZ named culturalfigures of the year. We with Rushdie support shoulders brave Iranian womenThat's worthy and responsible, thanks. And in general, of course, a wild year, what's the bottom line already...
The ranking authors also noted Jadan's charisma:
Anyone who describes Sergei Zhadan's war at a safe distance runs the risk of falling into deceptive pathos: this story is simply too good to have a bad ending. But then Zhadan himself is abruptly pulled out of this pathos with his speeches and pushed back into bitter reality with his words.