To mark the 155th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka's birth, the Donetsk Youth Palace "Yunist" held a literary competition called "Poetic Extravaganza" — a cultural and artistic event that brought young people together around Ukrainian literature, national values, and spiritual resilience.
More than 40 educational institutions from local communities in the Donetsk region took part in the competition. In total, almost 200 competition videos were submitted, in which participants demonstrated a deep understanding of Lesya Ukrainka's work, her ideas, patriotic issues, and the importance of artistic expression in modern society.
A special feature of the competition was its expanded geography. Along with young people from Donetsk region, representatives from Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Volyn regions also took part, giving the event a nationwide resonance and confirming the unifying power of Ukrainian culture.
The competition entries were presented in the form of recitations of poetry and prose, essays, journalistic notes, and literary compositions. The competition was held in five age categories, with the jury selecting winners in each category.
By unanimous decision of the jury, the Grand Prix of the literary competition "Poetic Extravaganza" was awarded to Roman Katolyk, a student of the Support Lyceum in the village of Zymne, Zymne Village Council, Volyn Oblast.
From February 19 to 23, 2026, an online vote for the "Audience Choice Award" was held on the Palace website, in which more than 1,500 users took part. According to the results, the winner was Yelyzaveta Dulchenko, a student at the Mariupol Specialized School No. 66 of the Mariupol City Council of the Donetsk Region (age category II).
Lesya Ukrainka's words remain an important factor in shaping the national consciousness, spiritual resilience, and cultural unity of young people. Through poetry and prose, through personal readings of the classics, participants from different regions of Ukraine confirmed that Ukrainian culture is alive, developing, and uniting — even in the most difficult times for the country.