Laureates of Russian literature prizes. Are literary prizes necessary? Non-state awards of the Russian Federation
Hugo Award
This award can be called one of the most democratic: its laureates are determined by voting by registered participants of the World Convention of Science Fiction Fans WorldCon (therefore the award is considered a “reader’s award”). The Hugo Award is a literary award for science fiction. It was established in 1953 and is named after Hugo Gernsback, the creator of the first specialized science fiction magazines. The prize is awarded annually for the best works of fiction published in English. The winners are awarded a figurine in the form of a taking off rocket. The prize is awarded in the following categories:
. Best Novel
. Best Novella
. Best short story (Best Novellette)
. Best Short Story
. Best Science Fiction Book (Best Related Book)
. Best production, large form (Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form)
. Best production, small form (Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form)
. Best Professional Editor
. Best Professional Artist
. Best semi-professional magazine (Best SemiProzine)
. Best Fanzine. Best Fan Writer
. Best Fan Artist
The list of winners of this and other science fiction awards can be found on the Russian Science Fiction website (www.rusf.ru). Separately, the John Campbell Award is awarded to the “Most Promising New Author of the Year”, which is awarded to a debut science fiction writer. Along with the Hugo Award, the Gandalf Award is sometimes awarded - not for a specific work, but for a significant contribution to the development of the fantasy genre.
Cervantes Prize
The Cervantes Literary Prize, established by the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 1975, is valued in the Spanish-speaking world no less than the Nobel Prize. The monetary part of the “Spanish Nobel Prize” is 90 thousand euros, it is awarded annually to the next laureate by the King of All Spain, Juan Carlos, in the homeland of the author of “Don Quixote” - in the town of Alcala de Henares, which is 50 kilometers from Madrid.
James Tait Award
Britain's oldest literary award is the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, awarded by the University of Edinburgh since 1919 to the best novelists and biographical writers. Its laureates at various times were Evelyn Waugh, Iris Murdoch, Graham Greene, and Ian McEwan.
Orange Award
For women writers in Great Britain who write in English, there is the Orange Prize. The winners are awarded a bronze statuette with the affectionate name Bessie and a check for the pleasant sum of £30,000. The jury of the award is exclusively women. http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/
Nobel Prize in Literature
The prize, founded by Swedish chemical engineer, inventor and industrialist Alfred Bernhard Nobel and named after him as the Nobel Prize, is the world's most prestigious and most criticized. Of course, this is largely due to the size of the Nobel Prize: the award consists of a gold medal with the image of A. Nobel and the corresponding inscription, a diploma and, most importantly, a check for a sum of money. The size of the latter depends on the profits of the Nobel Foundation. According to Nobel's will, drawn up on November 27, 1895, his capital (initially over 31 million Swedish crowns) was invested in shares, bonds and loans. The income from them is divided annually into 5 equal parts and becomes prizes for the most outstanding world achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for activities to strengthen peace. Particular passions flare up around the Nobel Prize in Literature. The main complaints against the Swedish Academy in Stockholm (it is the one that identifies the most worthy writers) are the decisions of the Nobel Committee themselves, and the fact that they are made in strict secrecy. The Nobel Committee announces only the number of applicants for a particular prize, but does not name their names. Evil tongues also claim that the prize is sometimes given for political rather than literary reasons. The main trump card of critics and detractors is Leo Tolstoy, Nabokov, Joyce, Borges, who were passed over for the Nobel Prize... The prize is awarded annually on December 10 - the anniversary of Nobel's death. The Swedish king traditionally awards Nobel writers in Stockholm. Within 6 months after receiving the Nobel Prize, the laureate must give a Nobel lecture on the topic of his work.
International Prize named after G.-H. Andersen
For the appearance of this prize, we must thank the German writer Jelle Lepmann (1891-1970). And not only for this. It was Mrs. Lepman who achieved that, by decision of UNESCO, the birthday of G.-H. Andersen, April 2, became International Children's Book Day. She also initiated the creation of the International Council on Children's and Youth Books (IBBY), an organization uniting writers, artists, literary scholars, and librarians from more than sixty countries. Since 1956, IBBY has awarded the International G.-H. Andersen, which with the light hand of the same Ella Lepman is called the “little Nobel Prize” for children's literature. Since 1966, this award has also been given to illustrators of children's books. The laureates receive a gold medal with the profile of a great storyteller every 2 years at the next IBBY congress. The award is given only to living writers and artists.
Astrid Lindgren International Literary Prize
The Swedish government, immediately after Lindgren's death, decided to establish a literary prize named after the world-famous storyteller. “I hope that the Prize will serve the dual purpose of serving as a reminder of Astrid and her life's work, as well as promoting and promoting good children's literature,” said Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson. The annual International Literary Award by Astrid Lingren (The Astrid Lingren Memorial Award) “For works for children and youth” should attract world attention to literature for children and adolescents and to children's rights. Therefore, it can be awarded not only to a writer or artist for an exceptional contribution to the development of children's books, but also for any activity to promote reading and protect children's rights. The monetary content of the award is also attractive - 500,000 euros. The lucky winners of the award are determined by 12 honorary citizens of the country, members of the State Cultural Council of Sweden. By tradition, the name of the laureate of this award is announced every year in March in Astrid Lindgren's homeland. The award is presented to the laureate in May in Stockholm.
Grintsane Cavour
In 2001, UNESCO declared the Grinzane Cavour Prize an “exemplary institute for international culture.” Despite its short history (established in Turin in 1982), the prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in Europe. It received its name from the 13th century Turin castle: Count Benso Cavour, the first prime minister of united Italy, used to live there, and now the headquarters of the award is located there. The main goal of “Grinzane Cavour” is to introduce the younger generation to literature, for which the jury includes both venerable literary critics and schoolchildren. About a thousand teenagers from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, the Czech Republic, the USA, Cuba, and Japan vote for the books of the authors nominated for the award. http://www.grinzane.it/
Prix Goncourt
France's main literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, established in 1896 and awarded since 1902, is awarded to the author of the best novel or collection of short stories of the year in French, not necessarily living in France. It bears the name of the French classics Goncourt brothers - Edmond Louis Antoine (1832-1896) and Jules Alfred Huot (1830-1869). The younger, Edmond, bequeathed his enormous fortune to the literary Academy, which became known as the Goncourt Academy and established an annual prize of the same name. The Goncourt Academy includes 10 of the most famous writers in France, who work for a nominal fee - 60 francs per year. Everyone has one vote and can cast it for one book, only the president has two votes. Members of the Goncourt Academy at different times were the writers A. Daudet, J. Renard, Rosny Sr., F. Eria, E. Bazin, Louis Aragon... Now the charter of the Goncourt Academy has changed: now the age of the jury members of the prestigious Goncourt Prize should not exceed 80 years. Initially, the prize was conceived as a reward for young writers for original talent, new and bold searches for content and form.
Booker Prize
Any resident of the Commonwealth of Nations or Ireland whose novel in English is considered worthy of worldwide fame and 50 thousand pounds sterling can receive the Booker Prize. The award has been presented since 1969, sponsored by the Man Group since 2002, and officially named The Man Booker Prize. First, a list of approximately one hundred books is compiled by an annual advisory committee of publishers and representatives of the writing world, literary agents, booksellers, libraries and the Man Booker Prize Foundation. The committee approves a jury of five people - famous literary critics, writers, scientists, and public figures. In August, the jury announces a “long list” of 20-25 novels, in September - six participants in the “short list”, and in October - the laureate himself. To mark the 40th anniversary of the prize, a special “Booker of All Time” award appeared. Its laureate was to be the booker, whose work was considered by readers to be the best novel in all the years of the prize's existence. In 2008, the cash portion of the prize was more than one hundred thousand US dollars (50 thousand pounds).
International Booker Prize
This prize was established in 2005 and is a “relative” of the regular Booker. It is awarded once every 2 years to the author for a work of fiction written in English or accessible to the general reader in translation into it.
The Carnegie Medal
The word “medal” can be found in the names of many “children’s literature” awards. For example, the vast majority of writers would consider it an honor to receive The Carnegie Medal. This very prestigious award has been awarded since 1936 and has always attracted the attention of the general public. The jury consists of representatives of the librarians' association. List of laureates: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/list.html
IMPAC
The world's largest prize for a single literary work is 100 thousand euros. It is awarded to the winners of the international IMPAC award, established in 1996 by Dublin City Council. In this city, glorified by Joyce, the award ceremony takes place. Although the headquarters of the international company IMPAC (Improved Management Productivity and Control), whose name the award bears, is located in Florida and has no direct connection with literature. IMPAC, a global leader in productivity improvement, works on projects for major corporations and organizations in 65 countries. To be eligible, a work must be written or translated into English and be able to withstand intense international competition, with 185 library systems in 51 countries eligible to nominate candidates. Award website
Hugo Award
This award can be called one of the most democratic: its laureates are determined by voting by registered participants of the World Convention of Science Fiction Fans WorldCon (therefore the award is considered a “reader’s award”).
The Hugo Award is a literary award for science fiction. It was established in 1953 and is named after Hugo Gernsback, the creator of the first specialized science fiction magazines. The prize is awarded annually for the best works of fiction published in English. The winners are awarded a figurine in the form of a taking off rocket.
The prize is awarded in the following categories:
Best Novel
Best Novella
Best short story (Best Novellette)
Best Short Story
Best Science Fiction Book (Best Related Book)
Best Production, Large Form (Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form)
Best Production, Small Form (Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form)
Best Professional Editor
Best Professional Artist
Best semi-professional magazine (Best SemiProzine)
Best Fanzine Best Fan Writer
Best Fan Artist
Separately, the John Campbell Prize is awarded to the “Most Promising New Author of the Year”, which is awarded to a debut science fiction writer.
Along with the Hugo Award, the Gandalf Award is sometimes awarded - not for a specific work, but for a significant contribution to the development of the fantasy genre.
Renaudo Prize
Bears the name of Theophrastus Renaudo (1586-1653) - French royal physician, historiographer, one of the creators of modern journalism, publisher of the first European newspaper “La Gazette”.
The award was established in 1925 by journalists languishing in anticipation of the results of the meeting of the Goncourt jury. Therefore, the Renaudo Prize is always awarded on the same day as the Goncourt Prize.
Despite the "lack of money", it is the second most important literary award in France after the Goncourt.
The reward is that a year after it is awarded, a fun dinner is held in honor of the winner.
Among the laureates over the years are Marcel Aimé, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Louis Aragon, Roger Peyrefitte, Suzanne Proulx, Daniel Pennac, Frederic Beigbeder.
Cervantes Prize
The Cervantes Literary Prize, established by the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 1975, is valued in the Spanish-speaking world no less than the Nobel Prize. The monetary part of the “Spanish Nobel Prize” is 90 thousand euros, it is awarded annually to the next laureate by the King of All Spain, Juan Carlos, in the homeland of the author of “Don Quixote” - in the town of Alcala de Henares, which is 50 kilometers from Madrid.
Since there are many good and diverse Spanish-speaking writers, according to an unwritten tradition, the award goes alternately to representatives of either Spain or Latin American countries. For example, in 2005, the winner was 72-year-old Sergio Pitol, the author of numerous novels, essays and poems, a translator of foreign writers, including Anton Chekhov, and a former diplomat. A significant role in awarding the prize to the Mexican was played by the fact that in 2004 it was given to the Spaniard Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio.
James Tait Award
Britain's oldest literary award is the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, awarded by the University of Edinburgh since 1919 to the best novelists and writers of biography.
Its laureates at various times included Evelyn Waugh, Iris Murdoch, Graham Greene, and Ian McEwan.
In 2007, the prize was awarded to American writer Cormac McCarthy for his novel The Road.
In 2008, the award was given to Rosalind Belben in the Fiction category for her novel Our Horses in Egypt, and in the Biography category to Rosemary Hill for her book The Divine Architect Pugin and buildings of British romanticism" (God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain").
Orange Award
Representatives of women's prose in the UK have simply freedom: the Orange Prize has existed since 1996, especially for women writers writing in English. The winners are awarded a bronze statuette with the affectionate name Bessie and a check for the pleasant sum of £30,000.
In 2006, the lucky winner of the above-mentioned prize was thirty-year-old Londoner Zadie Smith with her novel On Beauty. It was nominated for the Booker in 2005 but lost to John Banville's The Sea. Zadie Smith is no stranger to the Orange Prize: her previous novels, White Teeth and The Autograph Man, have already been shortlisted for the prize. In 2007, the winner was Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of the novel “Half of a Yellow Sun.” The 2008 winner was Rose Tremain for her novel The Road Home. In 2009, American Marilynne Robinson won with her novel “Home.” In 2010, the winner for her novel “The Lacuna” was the American writer Barbara Kingsolver, who was already on the award shortlist in 1999 with her novel “The Poisonwood Bible.”
Since 2005, the Orange New Writers Award has been awarded (prize fund - 10,000 pounds, or $17,500) for the best debut in English. In 2006, our former compatriot Olga Grushina, now living in the USA, claimed it with the novel “The Dream Life of Sukhanov" ("Life of Sukhanov in Dreams"). Her competitors were the Chinese Yiyun Li with the book "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" and the Englishwoman Naomi Alderman. , author of the novel "Disobedience" ("Disobedience") Alderman received the award, and in 2007 the award went to Karen Connelly for her novel "The Lizard Cage".
However, the contestants who were passed over for prizes have no reason to complain about a lack of understanding of their women’s prose: the jury of the award is made up exclusively of women.
Nobel Prize in Literature
The prize, founded by Swedish chemical engineer, inventor and industrialist Alfred Bernhard Nobel and named after him as the Nobel Prize, is the world's most prestigious and most criticized. Of course, this is largely due to the size of the Nobel Prize: the award consists of a gold medal with the image of A. Nobel and the corresponding inscription, a diploma and, most importantly, a check for a sum of money. The size of the latter depends on the profits of the Nobel Foundation. According to Nobel's will, drawn up on November 27, 1895, his capital (initially over 31 million Swedish crowns) was invested in shares, bonds and loans. The income from them is divided annually into 5 equal parts and becomes prizes for the most outstanding world achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for activities to strengthen peace.
The first awards were awarded on December 10, 1901 and amounted to 150 thousand Swedish crowns (6.8 million crowns in 2000 terms). Last year, the Nobel winners received 10 million Swedish crowns, or about 1 million 300 thousand dollars.
Particular passions flare up around the Nobel Prize in Literature. The main complaints against the Swedish Academy in Stockholm (it is the one that identifies the most worthy writers) are the decisions of the Nobel Committee themselves, and the fact that they are made in strict secrecy. The Nobel Committee announces only the number of applicants for a particular prize, but does not name their names. Evil tongues also claim that the prize is sometimes given for political rather than literary reasons. The main trump card of critics and detractors is Leo Tolstoy, Nabokov, Joyce, Borges, who were bypassed by the Nobel Prize...
However, the list of Nobel Prize laureates in literature is more than impressive.
As we can see, our compatriots became Nobel winners 5 times: 1933 - Bunin, 1958 - Pasternak (under pressure from the Soviet authorities he refused the prize), 1965 - Sholokhov, 1970 - Solzhenitsyn and 1987 - Brodsky.
The prize is awarded annually on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The Swedish king traditionally awards Nobel writers in Stockholm. Within 6 months after receiving the Nobel Prize, the laureate must give a Nobel lecture on the topic of his work.
International Prize named after G.-H. Andersen
For the appearance of this prize, we must thank the German writer Jelle Lepmann (1891-1970). And not only for this. It was Mrs. Lepman who achieved that, by decision of UNESCO, the birthday of G.-H. Andersen, April 2, became International Children's Book Day. She also initiated the creation of the International Council on Children's and Youth Books (IBBY), an organization uniting writers, artists, literary scholars, and librarians from more than sixty countries. Since 1956, IBBY has awarded the International G.-H. Andersen, which with the light hand of the same Ella Lepman is called the “little Nobel Prize” for children's literature. Since 1966, this award has also been given to illustrators of children's books.
The laureates receive a gold medal with the profile of a great storyteller every 2 years at the next IBBY congress. The award is given only to living writers and artists. The first winner of the “children's Nobel Prize” in 1956 was the English storyteller Eleanor Farjeon, known in our country for her translations of the books “I Want the Moon” and “The Seventh Princess.” In 1958, the award was received by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. Among other laureates there are also many world-famous stars - German writers Erich Kästner and James Crews, Italian Gianni Rodari, Bohumil Rzhiga from Czechoslovakia, Austrian writer Christine Nestlinger... Alas, our compatriots are not on the list of “Andersenists”, although the Russian Children's Book Council is included in IBBY since 1968. Only illustrator Tatyana Alekseevna Mavrina (1902-1996) received the Andersen Medal in 1976.
True, the International Children's Book Council has another award - an Honorary Diploma for individual books for children, for their illustrations and the best translations into languages of the world. And among the diploma recipients there are many “ours” - writers Radiy Pogodin, Yuri Koval, Valentin Berestov, Agnia Barto, Sergei Mikhalkov, artists Lev Tokmakov, Boris Diodorov, Viktor Chizhikov, Mai Miturich, translators Yakov Akim, Yuri Kushak, Irina Tokmakova and others.
Astrid Lindgren International Literary Prize
Another award for children's writers is named after the “mother” of Carlson and Calle the Detective, Pippi Longstocking and... However, the list of heroes from the books of the famous Swede Astrid Lindgren could take a long time. The best memory of the writer is his books, but the Swedish Government, immediately after Lindgren’s death, decided to establish a literary prize named after the world-famous storyteller. “I hope that the Prize will serve the dual purpose of serving as a reminder of Astrid and her life's work, as well as promoting and promoting good children's literature,” said Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson.
The annual International Literary Award by Astrid Lindgren (The Astrid Lingren Memorial Award) “For works for children and youth” should attract world attention to literature for children and adolescents and to children's rights. Therefore, it can be awarded not only to a writer or artist for an exceptional contribution to the development of children's books, but also for any activity to promote reading and protect children's rights. The monetary content of the award is also attractive - 500,000 euros. The lucky winners of the award are determined by 12 honorary citizens of the country, members of the State Cultural Council of Sweden. By tradition, the name of the laureate of this award is announced every year in March in Astrid Lindgren's homeland. The award is presented to the laureate in May in Stockholm.
On March 18, 2003, the first winners were announced - Austrian writer Christine Nöstlinger and American artist, creator of original picture books, Maurice Sendak. In 2004, the award was received by a Brazilian writer, laureate of the International Literary Prize. Andersen Lij Bozhunga, in 2006 - American Katherine Paterson.
The 2007 award winner was the Venezuelan “Bank of Books” (Banco del Libro), a non-profit organization founded in 1960 in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas. Its goal is to popularize children's literature, publishing activities, and expand the network of libraries and bookstores. The award was awarded for activity, professionalism, work in direct contact with children and lack of bureaucracy.
In 2008, the award was given to 40-year-old Australian writer Sonia Hartnett, the author of more than a dozen stories for teenagers.
The 2009 winner was the Palestinian independent public organization Tamer Institute for Community Education, which promotes reading in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 2010, the prize was awarded to the writer and illustrator Kitty Crowther (Belgium).
Grintsane Cavour
In 2001, UNESCO declared the Grinzane Cavour Prize an “exemplary institute for international culture.” Despite its short history (established in Turin in 1982), the prize has become one of the most prestigious literary awards in Europe. It received its name from the 13th century Turin castle: Count Benso Cavour, the first prime minister of united Italy, used to live there, and now the headquarters of the award is located there.
The main goal of “Grinzane Cavour” is to introduce the younger generation to literature, for which the jury includes both venerable literary critics and schoolchildren. About a thousand teenagers from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, the Czech Republic, the USA, Cuba, and Japan vote for the books of the authors nominated for the award. It must be admitted that schoolchildren have good literary taste - among the laureates of past years were: Günter Grass, Czeslaw Milosz, Carlos Fuentes, Bogumil Hrabal, Kenzaburo Oe, Yves Bonnefoy, Jean Starobinsky, Vidiadhar Naipaul, Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison, Daniel Pennac, John Maxwell Coetzee, Mario Vargas Llosa, Anita Desai, Derek Walcott, Amitav Ghose, Don DeLillo.
Since 2004, in Russia, translators from Italian or authors of works published in Italy and related to Italian themes have been awarded the Grinzane Cavour Moscow prize. In 2004, it was received by Evgeniy Rein, Elena Kostyukovich and Vladislav Otroshenko, in 2005 - by Natalia Stavrovskaya and Asar Eppel. In 2007, the winner of the “Grinzane Cavour Moscow” was the writer Mikhail Shishkin, winner of the “Big Book” 2006 and the “National Bestseller”, and translator Elena Dmitrieva, author of Russian versions of Lampedusa’s “The Leopard”, works by Leonardo Sciasci, Primo Levi and others.
In 2008, the winner of the award in the category “Best Prose in a Foreign Language” was Lyudmila Ulitskaya for her novel “Sincerely Yours, Shurik” (in addition to Ulitskaya, the winners in this category were Spanish and German writers Bernardo Achaga and Ingo Schulze).
Prix Goncourt
France's main literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, established in 1896 and awarded since 1902, is awarded to the author of the best novel or collection of short stories of the year in French, not necessarily living in France. It bears the name of the French classics Goncourt brothers - Edmond Louis Antoine (1832-1896) and Jules Alfred Huot (1830-1869). The younger, Edmond, bequeathed his enormous fortune to the literary Academy, which became known as the Goncourt Academy and established an annual prize of the same name.
The Goncourt Academy includes 10 of the most famous writers in France, who work not for personal gain, but for a nominal fee - 60 francs per year. Everyone has one vote and can cast it for one book, only the president has two votes. Members of the Goncourt Academy at different times were the writers A. Daudet, J. Renard, Rosny Sr., F. Eria, E. Bazin, Louis Aragon... In 2008, the charter of the Goncourt Academy changed: now the age of the jury members of the prestigious Goncourt Prize should not exceed 80 years.
The monetary content of the award is purely symbolic - currently it is 10 euros. But after the prize is awarded, sales of the winning book increase sharply, bringing both fame and income to the author.
Initially, the prize was conceived as a reward for young writers for original talent, new and bold searches for content and form. However, these wishes of the founder E. Goncourt were soon forgotten. Before the Second World War (and after), the number of times it was awarded for truly outstanding works can be counted on one hand - for example, the Prix Goncourt went to the anti-war novel “Fire” by Henri Barbusse. But the name of the first laureate, John-Antoine Hay (1903), has long been forgotten; his works (like many other winners of the Goncourt Prize) have never been known outside of France. Although among the “goncuriates” there were also real celebrities - Marcel Proust (1919), Maurice Druon (1948), Simone de Beauvoir (1954). Once in the more than century-long history of the prize, the laureate was a native of Russia, Andrei Makin, for his novel “The French Testament,” translated into 30 languages.
The French writer A. Style once noted that “The Goncourt Prize tends, on the one hand, to rise, and on the other, to fall sharply.” However, she’s not the only one...
Selected laureates:
1916 - Henri Barbusse, "Fire"
1919 - Marcel Proust, “Under the Canopy of Girls in Bloom”
1933 - Andre Malraux, “The Lot of Man”
1951 - Julien Gracq, “The Coast of Sirte” (refused the prize)
1954 - Simone de Beauvoir, “Tangerines”
1956 - Romain Gary, “The Roots of the Sky”
1970 - Michel Tournier, “The King of the Forest”
1974 - Pascal Lenet, “The Lacemaker”
1975 - Emile Azhar (Romain Gary), “The Whole Life Ahead”
1978 - Patrick Modiano, “Street of Dark Shops”
1982 - Dominic Fernandez, “In the Palm of an Angel”
1984 - Marguerite Duras, "The Lover"
1988 - Eric Orsenna, "Colonial Exhibition"
1993 - Amin Maalouf, "The Rock of Tanios"
1994 - Didier Van Coveler, “One Way”
1995 - Andrey Makin, “The French Testament”
1997 - Patrick Rambeau, "Battle"
2002 - Pascal Quignard, “Stray Shadows”
2007 - Gilles Leroy, “Song of Alabama”
2008 - Atik Rahimi, “Singe Sabur. Stone of Patience"
2009 - Marie Ndiaye, “Three Strong Women”
2010 - Laurent Binet, “HHhH”
Booker Prize
Any resident of the Commonwealth of Nations or Ireland whose novel in English is considered worthy of worldwide fame and 50 thousand pounds sterling can receive the Booker Prize. The award has been presented since 1969, sponsored by the Man Group since 2002, and officially named The Man Booker Prize.
How is the winner determined? First, a list of approximately one hundred books is compiled by an annual advisory committee of publishers and representatives of the writing world, literary agents, booksellers, libraries and the Man Booker Prize Foundation. The committee approves a jury of five people - famous literary critics, writers, scientists, and public figures. In August, the jury announces a “long list” of 20-25 novels, in September – six participants in the “short list”, and in October – the laureate himself.
Four times Booker was the “foundry of personnel” for the Nobel Prize: bookers William Golding, Nadine Gordimer, V. S. Naipaul and J. M. Coetzee later became laureates of the Nobel Prize in Literature. J.M. Coetzee and Peter Carey have won the Booker twice (1983 and 1999; 1988 and 2001, respectively). No one has surpassed the record of Iris Murdoch (Booker winner in 1978) for the number of times she was shortlisted - 6 times. The last laureate (in 2005) was the Irishman John Banville with his novel “The Sea”, who overtook such masters as Coetzee, Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Ian McEwen and others in the prize marathon.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the prize, a special “Booker of All Time” award appeared. Its laureate was to be the booker, whose work was considered by readers to be the best novel in all the years of the award's existence. According to the results of online voting, British prose writer and poet of Indian origin Sir Salman Rushdie won with his novel Midnight's Children.
Russians get acquainted with book-carrying books thanks to the series “Booker Prize: Selections”, published since 2002 by the publishing house “ROSMEN”. It includes works from the “long” and “short” lists.
In addition, there is the International Booker Prize, which is awarded every two years. It is awarded to a writer who writes in English or an author whose works are widely translated into English.
In 2009, the Russian writer, winner of the Russian Booker, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, was among the finalists of the International Booker, and the 77-year-old Canadian writer Alice Munro, known mainly for her short stories, was named the prize winner in May 2009. The monetary content of the award is 103 thousand dollars.
The world's largest prize for a single literary work is 100 thousand euros. It is awarded to the winners of the international IMPAC award, established in 1996 by Dublin City Council.
In this city, glorified by Joyce, the award ceremony takes place. Although the headquarters of the international company IMPAC (Improved Management Productivity and Control), whose name the award bears, is located in Florida and has no direct connection with literature. IMPAC, a global leader in productivity improvement, works on projects for major corporations and organizations in 65 countries.
True, high writing productivity (combined with quality) can also bring premium results. To be eligible, a work must be written or translated into English and be able to withstand intense international competition, with 185 library systems in 51 countries eligible to nominate candidates.
There are a large number of different awards in the field of literature, some of them are very prestigious, and some are not so much. The main goal of the awards is to highlight a truly unique and outstanding creation from the multitude of literary works. A book that has received an award is usually published in large quantities. And the more famous the prize is, the more people will want to buy this particular book. What awards are the most prestigious?
1. Nobel Prize in Literature
This prestigious award is given annually for achievements in the field of literature. The winners are mainly writers from Europe and the United States, so the award is often criticized for bias. Among Russian authors, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Sholokhov, Joseph Brodsky, Alexander Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
2. Pulitzer Prize
This American prize has been awarded since 1911. The main prize is 10 thousand US dollars. Despite the fact that laureates almost never appear on book bestseller lists, the prize is considered one of the most prestigious in the literary world.
3. Prix Goncourt
The French literary prize has been awarded annually since 1903. According to the statute, the prize can be awarded to any author only once during his lifetime. Over the years, the Prix Goncourt was awarded to Marcel Proust, Simone de Beauvoir, and Alphonse de Chateaubriand.
4. Booker Prize
For many, this prize is the most prestigious in the world of English-language literature. The winner is awarded a check for 50,000 British pounds. Four times in history, Booker laureates have also received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
5. Southeast Asian Literary Award
This international literary prize recognizes the best poetry and prose works by authors from ASEAN countries. The Chairman of the Prize Organizing Committee is the Prince of Thailand, Prem Purachatra.
6. ABS premium
The Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Prize is awarded for the best works of science fiction written in Russian. The award winners are Evgeny Lukin, Kir Bulychev, Dmitry Bykov.
7. Russian Booker
This prize is awarded for the best novel in Russian. The laureates of the Russian Booker were Bulat Okudzhava, Lyudmila Ulitskaya and Vasily Aksenov. Along with the main prize, the “Student Booker” is also awarded, the jury of which includes undergraduate and graduate students.
8. Runet Book Prize
The annual award in the field of literature is presented to laureates selected both by popular vote and by an expert commission.
9. Prize H.K. Andersen
This prize is awarded in the field of children's literature both for the works themselves and for their illustrations. The prize winners were Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, Gianni Rodari.
10. Liberty Award
The award was established in the United States by emigrants from Russia in 1999. It is awarded for contribution to the development of Russian-American culture and strengthening international ties between countries. The laureates were V. Aksenov, M. Epstein, V. Bachanyan, O. Vasiliev.
Material prepared by S.Yu. Goncharuk, methodologist of the State Medical Center for Dog and Medical Medicine
An award or award is usually awarded on a competitive basis to a person or organization for outstanding results in a particular field of activity. Below is a list of the ten most famous awards in the world.
The ranking of the most famous awards opens with the Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious US award in the fields of literature, journalism, music and theater. It was founded on August 17, 1903 by newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer. The prize has been awarded annually in twenty-one categories since 1917. The prize amount is $10,000.
MTV Video Music Awards is an annual award given by MTV for the creation of video clips. The ceremony was first held in 1984 in New York. The record holder for the number of figurines won, the so-called “Moonmanow”, is the American singer Madonna, who won 20 awards.
BRIT Awards
The BRIT Awards are the UK's most prestigious annual award, awarded for achievements in pop music. The award was first presented in 1977 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee celebrations. Since 1982 it has been awarded annually. The record holder for the number of nominations is British singer Robbie Williams (17 BRIT Awards).
Seventh in the list of the most famous awards is the Grammy, an annual music award of the Recording Academy of America, founded on March 14, 1958. Awarded by voting in 78 categories across 30 musical genres. As of February 2009, a total of 7,578 awards had been given.
The Cannes Film Festival is an annual international film festival founded in 1946. Held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. The most prestigious award given at the Cannes Film Festival in the category for best film is the Palme d'Or.
Fifth place in the list of the most famous awards in the world goes to the Golden Globe. This is an annual American award, awarded since 1944 for films and television films based on voting by approximately 90 international journalists based in Hollywood. The record holder for the number of nominations is Meryl Streep (29 awards).
BAFTA
BAFTA is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the arts such as film, television and computer games. The organization was formed in 1947 under the leadership of David Lean. The first BAFTA Awards took place in 1948 in London. The winners receive a gold mask as a prize.
Third place in the list of the ten most famous awards in the world goes to the Booker Prize. This is the most prestigious literary award, given annually in the UK since 1969 for the best original novel written in the English language. The winner of the award receives £50 thousand.
Oscar
In second place in the list of the most famous awards in the world is the Oscar - the most prestigious American film award on the planet, awarded annually since 1929 in Los Angeles, at the Dolby Theater for various achievements in the film industry. From 1953 to the present, the ceremony has been broadcast on television in more than 200 countries. Walt Disney received the most Oscars (26 awards).
The Nobel Prize is an international annual prize awarded for outstanding scientific research, revolutionary inventions or major contributions to culture or society. The prize was named after the Swedish chemist, engineer and inventor Alfred Nobel, who in his will directed part of his capital to be awarded as a reward for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. Between 1901–2015 The Nobel Prize has been awarded to 870 laureates and 26 organizations.
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Are literary prizes necessary?
Chairman of the board of a non-profit association
Kunst im Dialog e.V. (Germany),
consultant to a number of German publishing houses on issues
Russian literature and the Russian book publishing market,
literary agent
There are countless literary awards around the world. Many of them appeared quite a long time ago. Prizes in the field of literature are an encouragement for authors, both moral and material. This action is very important for the development and further creativity of both the author who received the prize and the literary process, which, in turn, influences the ideology of the state. If we continue this chain further, we will see the impact on the position of the nation in the world community and on the world community itself. As you know, the largest and most prestigious world prize in the field of literature is the Nobel Prize, established by Alfred Bernhard Nobel and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy.
This publication will focus on literary prizes of the Russian Federation and their influence on literary and social processes in Russia and the world.
The institution of literary awards in the Russian Federation is quite developed. Prizes for the best literary works were awarded back in Tsarist Russia, in the mid-19th century, but they were common to both writers and scientists. Later, at the end of the 19th century, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences established a special literary prize, and already in the USSR, before the Great Patriotic War, the Stalin Prize for Literature was established. If we take the total number of literary awards in Russia, then we can count several hundred of them. Many not only large, but also small provincial cities have their own literary awards, which indicates the high level of their culture. The purpose of Russian literary awards is to increase the social significance of Russian literature and attract attention to it. Individual awards also have their own specific goals. For example, “Yasnaya Polyana” supports authors who are followers of the morals and ideals of Leo Tolstoy, the ideals of humanistic prose and poetry, in whose works the centuries-old traditions of Russian culture are expressed.
Judging by the list of awards that exist today posted on the Internet, there may be several dozen of them in one or another large city, and they are named, as a rule, in honor of Soviet and Russian writers - Anna Akhmatova, Fyodor Abramov, Yuri Mamleev, etc. There are also prizes awarded by thick magazines such as “Znamya”, “New World”, “Youth”, etc.
The main literary awards in Russia are the “Big Book”, “Russian Booker”, “National Bestseller”. There are equally well-known, but smaller ones, for example NOS (New Literature), which was established by the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation. Almost every award has several nominations, which makes it possible to recognize and reward a larger number of authors. The main difference between the NOS Prize and others is that the work of evaluating and arguing the jury members for each candidate for the award takes place publicly. By the way, another difference from most awards is that there is also a reader vote.
The Russian Booker Prize is a daughter of the British literary prize Booker Prize. This prize was first awarded in 1969, and the “Russian Booker” - in 1992.
The Big Book has an incredibly large expert council - more than a hundred people. The selection of the main laureates of this award is very impressive. Right during the ceremonial presentation, in another room, the final small jury gathers, the final authority that distributes the three awards included in the “Big Book”.
“Yasnaya Polyana” and “Belkin Prize” are less significant awards, but they have their place in the literary process.
The “Russian Prize” was established to support authors who write in Russian but live abroad, and is also awarded for the best translation of works of Russian literature.
The Debut Prize is for the best young authors. Moreover, this award has many nominations: prose, poetry, drama, short story, criticism. Many more different literary prizes can be named, but the purpose of this article is to analyze the internal processes in literature, which are influenced by such external factors as the awarding of literary prizes.
Literary awards are enterprises where there is a directorate, accounting department, and employees who are involved in organizing and conducting the process of accepting and reviewing works, forming a jury, organizing a PR campaign and the final award ceremony. A very important point is financing. It can be either state-owned - for example, the Agency for Press and Mass Communications supports the Big Book Prize - or private - the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation finances the NOS Prize, which is headed by his sister Irina Prokhorova, the Generation Foundation finances the Debut Prize, etc. d.
Of particular note is the “Enlightener” award for the best books in the field of popular science literature. It was established in 2008 by the founder of the Dynasty Foundation, Dmitry Zimin. The purpose of the prize is to popularize science and expand the market for popular science literature. This award has two categories - natural sciences and humanities. In addition, the bonus also has a cash equivalent.
There are literary prizes that are awarded by publishing houses. Naturally, presenting such a prize to the author of that same publishing house is absolutely meaningless. Moreover, it is not entirely clear. After all, the purpose of the prize is to celebrate a work that has become an event in the literary process. And by choosing the work of this particular author for publication in its magazine, the publishing house has already distinguished it from the general series. Nevertheless, when assessing the grounds for receiving a prize in this case, preference is still given to the authors of this publishing house, and new, perhaps more talented ones, are passed over. Here, harm is done both to the author who was not noted, and to literature as a whole.
Often the jury's choice is not based on the actual uniqueness of the text, but on the preferences of the jury members, whose composition is not always constant. For example, in the jury of the Russian Booker Prize, its members and chairman change every year. This does not contribute to an objective assessment of the works submitted for the prize. As a result, the winners are determined by a jury consisting of random people with different taste preferences. There is also the purely human sympathies and antipathies of the jury members towards the authors participating in the competition. This does not always help stimulate the literary process, and from a moral point of view it is also not entirely correct. Some experts propose to reform or reorient the goals and objectives of literary awards and, in this regard, the essence of such awards. First of all, this applies to literary trends. Nowadays, the winners are mainly not works of traditional trends, such as realism or its varieties, which allow some deviation, but works that are considered innovative, that is, unrealistic. The term “postmodernism” is a passport to the community of shortlisted members and award winners. The principles of specialization of various awards by genre and form are proposed. There are calls for juries to view prize-nominated works not as recreational reading, but as objects of study. The specialization of literary prizes, according to experts, would strengthen their ability to guide the reader, who would be informed about the essence of the work that received the prize, awarded for the fulfillment of specific tasks in literature.
Valery Pecheykin (photographer - Ira Polyarnaya)
Like any business, some awards die if they are handled by non-professionals or if funding is cut off, especially during an economic crisis.
Literary awards are integrated into the book publishing industry. Prizes in the field of literature are a tool for promoting Russian literature to not only Russian but also foreign readers. Literary agents know that immediately after shortlists are announced, and especially after an author is awarded a prize, foreign publishers approach him, because the prize is a navigator for the publisher in finding authors who, if their books are published, can make a profit. Awarding a prize makes the names of new authors known, but even this does not guarantee that works that receive a prize will be published. An interested publisher, if he does not see the prospect of selling a book, for example due to the not very high quality of the text or even due to the political orientation of not only the specific text, but also the author himself, is unlikely to accept it for publication. Awards, of course, enliven cultural life, people discuss, argue, and express their opinions. We can say that literary awards are a sociocultural phenomenon that attracts the attention of modern literature not only to specialists, but also to the reading community as a whole and the individual reader. At the same time, the reputation of a particular writer is formed. And not necessarily positive. An author who is awarded a prestigious prize immediately increases his status - he becomes a laureate. But in the future, if he does not receive other awards or his books are not published abroad, his rating may gradually fall. And vice versa, a talented author who is not awarded a prize also acquires a special status - he becomes a hero who is undeservedly, for some, perhaps, secret reasons, squeezed by literary experts. But his fame does not bring him large book circulations or awards. This is a kind of dissidence. It must be said that the path to the prize and even to the long, and even more so to the short list is very difficult. Getting on the short list for a literary award is already a direct path to the award.
Authors awarded a literary prize arouse the interest of not only readers and publishers. Prizes divide authors into groups: first - those who are awarded the prize; second - those who were shortlisted; the third is everyone else, although this group often contains more talented writers than the first two. Such authors include, for example, Yuri Nechiporenko and Daniel Orlov, who have been awarded several minor literary awards, including online ones, but have not yet received a significant award in the field of literature.
Authors may not be in the forefront for various non-literary reasons. Often - because of the political position of the author or the text itself. This reason is also an obstacle to publishing the author’s work abroad, where there is a strict tie between authors and ideology that corresponds to the declared “Western values.”
Literary prizes are undoubtedly useful, but at the same time they are harmful. You could say that prizes are literature killers. The criterion of artistry is being displaced. Some authors write for a prize, for example, for the “Big Book”. Already well-known authors, awarded with literary awards, allow themselves to simply “expand the text” to the format of a thick book. Although there have been cases where the Big Book Prize was awarded to a work of a regular format. As already mentioned, the fate of the book and the author depends on the tastes of the jury members and other subjective reasons.
Separately, we can note the positive role of the Debut Prize, which gave the green light to many young authors who have already become famous. This is, for example, Valery Pecheykin, a playwright who successfully collaborates with the Gogol Center, where his plays are staged, which can be called innovative in a good sense.
If we draw a line under everything written, we can say that despite all their shortcomings, bonuses are needed. Without them it is already difficult to imagine the literary process and the reading community, as well as book publishing and book distribution.
