Maria Matios – contemporary Ukrainian writer, author of “Sweet Darusya” and “Nation.” A Shevchenko Prize laureate, she is known for exploring the traumatic history of the Carpathians and Ukraine in the 20th century. Her style combines vernacular richness, psychological depth, and dramatic intensity.
📚 Born in Bukovyna, often weaves Hutsul dialects and folklore into her prose. 💡 Her novel “Sweet Darusya” (2004) became a literary sensation, called a “psychological drama of silence and pain.” 🏆 Won the Shevchenko Prize in 2005 for this work. 🎭 Adapted into a play that became a cult performance in Ukrainian theatres. 🌍 Among the most translated contemporary Ukrainian authors. 😮 Odd fact: avoids public life, saying “my books speak better than I do.” 😂 Funny: once joked her family was so colourful that every second relative could be a novel character.