Taras Prokhasko

Taras Prokhasko (Тарас Богданович Прохасько; born 16 May 1968) is a Ukrainian novelist, essayist and journalist. Together with Yuri Andrukhovych a major representative of the Stanislav phenomenon. Writing of Taras Prokhasko is often associated with magical realism, his novel «The UnSimple» has been compared to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Biologist by education Prokhasko's prose has been called to have features of "philosophy of a plant" for its dense and meditative character.

He is nephew of writer Iryna Vilde and brother of translator and essayist Yurko Prokhasko.

Biography
Taras Prokhasko studied botany at Lviv University. In 1989–1991 he took part in student protests for the independence of Ukraine. After graduation he took different jobs at the Ivano-Frankivsk Institute of Karpathian Forestry, scholl teacher, bartender, animator on "Vezha" radio, art galleries, newspapers, on TV. In 1992–1994 he edited the avant-guarde literary journal "Chetver". In 1993 and 1994 he acted in short films "Flowers of St. Francis" and "Escape to Egypt" (winner of the Delyatyn video art festival). Worked as a journalist at "Express", "Postup", "Telekrytyka" and "Halytskyi korespondent" newspapers. In 2004 Prokhasko spent several months in Kraków on the «Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza — Homines Urbani» foundation scholarship.

Awards

 * 1997 – Smoloskyp prize
 * 2006 – first prize for fiction from "Korespondent" journal
 * 2007 – third prize for documentary writing from "Korespondent" journal
 * 2007 – Joseph Conrad prize from the Polish Institute in Kyiv
 * 2013 – BBC Book of the Year, Litakcent roku for "Who will make the snow"

Translations
Prokhasko's writings were translated in English, German, Polish, Belarusian and Russian.

Texts available in English

 * «Necropolis» in «Two Lands, New Visions» (1998) anthology
 * «The UnSimple», 2011
 * FM Galicia