The list includes current literary awards for works written in Russian, which were awarded in 2015 and have a functioning website. The list does not include prizes awarded by the editors of literary magazines. The information collected in the section is replenished and clarified as relevant information becomes available, which we please send to the address
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ALL-RUSSIAN AND INTERNATIONAL
(regardless of the place of residence of the authors and the subject of their works)
ANDREY BELY AWARD
The oldest independent literary prize in modern Russia - first awarded in 1978 by the editors of the Leningrad samizdat almanac “The Hours”. Since that time, in accordance with the changing eras, it has gone through several transformations, but has retained unchanged the spirit of nonconformism and focus on the new and unusual. And also a corresponding unique “prize fund”: a bottle of vodka, one apple and one ruble. Despite this, the award enjoys constant respect in the professional community.
Main nominations: “Poetry”, “Prose” and “Humanities”.
Among the 2018 award winners are Andrei Sen-Senkov, Pavel Pepperstein, Valery Shubinsky, Yan Kaplinsky.
In 2018, the prize winners were the poet, as well as prose writers Konstantin Kovalev-Sluchevsky and
Over the years, Vladimir Krupin, Olesya Nikolaeva, Viktor Nikolaev, Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits, Alexander Segen, Stanislav Kunyaev, Nikolai Agafonov, Valentin Kurbatov, Valery Ganichev, Yuri Bondarev and Yuri Kublanovsky became laureates of the Patriarchal Prize.
At various times, Naum Korzhavin, Evgeny Yevtushenko, Evgeny Rein, Sergey Gandlevsky, Victor Sosnora, Inna Lisnyanskaya, Timur Kibirov, Oleg Chukhontsev, Alexander Kushner became laureates of the Poet Prize.
The NOS Prize was established in 2009 by the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation. A special feature of the prize is the public discussion between the “prize jury” and the “prize experts” (both are appointed by the board of trustees headed by I. D. Prokhorova). The name of the award is proposed to be deciphered as “New Sociality” and “New Literature”. The boundaries of this novelty become the subject of two lively discussions - in Krasnoyarsk, in progress (in this case, a short list is determined), and in Moscow (in this case, the winner is determined). The monetary component of the award is 700,000 rubles.
In 2018, as a result of the debate, Maria Stepanova was chosen as the winner for the novel “In Memory of Memory,” and online voting brought victory to the novel “iPhuck 10” by Viktor Pelevin. The “Critical Community Prize” was awarded to Lyudmila Petrushevskaya for her novel “We Were Stolen. History of Crimes".
The winners over the years were Vladimir Sorokin, Alexey Salnikov, Alexey Tsvetkov Jr., Lev Rubinstein, Igor Vishnevetsky, Andrey Astvatsaturov.
In 2018, the winner in the “Modern Russian Prose” category was Olga Slavnikova with her novel “Long Jump”; in the “Foreign Literature” category the prize was won by the Israeli writer Amos Oz for the novel “Judas” (translator of the book Viktor Radutsky). The special prize "Readers' Choice" went to Maria Stepanova for her novel "In Memory of Memory"
The prize winners were Andrei Rubanov, Vladimir Makanin, Orkhan Pamuk, Andrei Bitov, Guzel Yakhina, Roman Senchin, Yuri Bondarev, Evgeniy Vodolazkin, Valentin Rasputin, Fazil Iskander, Mikhail Tarkovsky, Zakhar Prilepin, Vasily Belov.
Website of the Voloshin Festival and Prize: voloshin-fond.com
Over the years, the prize winners were Vsevolod Emelin, Lada Puzyrevskaya, Alexander Kabanov, Andrey Rodionov, Natasha Romanova, Maxim Zhukov, Andrey Permyakov.
DELVIG PRIZE
Prize “For Fidelity to the Word and the Fatherland” named after the first editor of the Literary Newspaper, Anton Delvig. Established by Literaturnaya Gazeta as an annual Russian national award in 2012.
Creative organizations and/or publishing houses can nominate works.
Prize fund - 7,000,000 rubles: three first prizes of 1,000,000 rubles each (with the presentation of the “Delvig Gold Medal”), six second prizes of 500,000 rubles each (with the presentation of the “Delvig Silver Medal”), four “Debut” prizes 250,000 rubles each (with the presentation of diplomas to the laureates).
Only books published in the current year are accepted for the competition. For example, in the 2016 season, books published from January 2014 to October 2015 were considered. Applications were accepted from October 15, 2015 until January 31 2015. In 2016, it was decided not to divide the laureates into “gold”, “silver” and “bronze”. All received the Golden Delvig award.
The laureates of the prize over the years were Andrey Dementyev, Alexander Prokhanov, Sergey Shargunov, Yuri Lyubimov, Vladimir Lichutin, Magomed Akhmedov, Maria Semenova.
DMITRY GORCHEV LITERARY PRIZE
In St. Petersburg in memory of the most popular prose writer on the Runet - Dmitry Gorchev. The prize supports realistic and meta-realistic short fiction written in Russian, regardless of the author’s place of residence and citizenship.
In the 2018 season, the award is awarded in one category. Genres: short story, essay, travel diary, fairy tale, grotesque, absurdist realism. In 2018, the prize for three winners is 20,000, 10,000 and 7,000 rubles. The winners will be awarded on September 27, Dmitry Gorchev’s birthday. The winners in 2018 were Vyacheslav Denisov, Tatyana Zamirovskaya, Ilya Danishevsky.
Over the years, Andrei Krasnyaschikh, Lera Manovich, Evgeniy Babushkin, and Alexander Gonorovsky became laureates of the Dmitry Gorchev Prize.
SPECIALIZED
(establishing a number of restrictions for authors)
LYCEUM
Alexander Pushkin Literary Prize for young writers and poets no older than 35 years. Established in 2017.
The competition accepts literary and artistic prose works (novels, stories, collections of stories and/or short stories) with a volume of 4 to 12 author's printed sheets (from 160,000 to 480,000 printed characters) and poetic works with a volume of 150 to 700 lines that have not previously been nominated for national literary awards. Prize winners are determined in two categories - poetry and prose, in each of which three prizes are awarded. The short list is announced in May, and the award ceremony takes place on June 6, the birthday of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
RUSSIAN PRIZE
The Russian Prize was established in 2005 and is one of the five most prestigious Russian literary awards. Authors who write in Russian and permanently reside outside the Russian Federation can be nominated. A partially rotating jury awards prizes in three categories - “short prose”, “large prose” and “poetry”, as well as a special prize for the preservation of Russian literature abroad. Nomination of manuscripts and autonomy are allowed. The cash value of the first prize in each category is 150,000 rubles. A publishing program is provided, carried out in partnership with capital publishing houses.
The laureates of the “Russian Prize” at the end of 2016 were: Gennady Rusakov (“Poetry”), Tatyana Dagovich (“Small Prose”) and (“Large Prose”).
Among its laureates are Bakhyt Kenzheev, Boris Khazanov, Yuz Aleshkovsky, Anastasia Afanasyeva, Marina Paley, Vladimir Lorchenkov, Mariam Petrosyan, Marianna Goncharova, Dina Rubina, Andrey Polyakov, and others.
The winner of the 5th season of the award (2017-2018) was Oleg Aronson with the book “The Powers of the False. Experiences in non-political democracy".
RAINBOW
The Russian-Italian literary prize "Rainbow" was established in 2010 by the Litistituti im. A. M. Gorky and the Verona non-profit association “Understanding Eurasia”.
The competition is held in two categories: “Young Writer” and “Young Translator”. Citizens of the Russian Federation aged 18 to 35 can take part in it. Stories and translations into Russian that have not been published before (including on the Internet) and have not been submitted to other competitions, no more than 10 thousand characters with spaces, are allowed to participate.
The amount of the prize in the “Young Writer” nomination is 5,000 euros, in the “Young Translator” nomination - 2,500 euros.
The best works, five each from Russia and Italy, are published in the literary almanac of the Rainbow Prize.
Among other things, the award winners annually go on a “creative trip” to another country. In 2013, Italians traveled through the cities of the Central region, in 2014, Russian writers traveled through Northern Italy, in 2015, Italians traveled through famous cities.
In 2017, the jury recognized the works of prose writers Elena Tulusheva and Elisa Guidotti, as well as translators Yana Bogdanova and Jacopo Vigna-Taglianti.
This season the work was accepted until November 15, 2018, The award ceremony will take place in May 2019 in Turin.
Prize Regulations: on the website of Banca Intesa.
MANUSCRIPT OF THE YEAR
“Manuscript of the Year” is the first prize in Russia that considers not published works, but manuscripts—original author’s texts. Only young, previously unpublished authors' manuscripts participate in the competition. The prize was established by the Astrel-SPb publishing house (AST) in 2009.
The 2018 Grand Prix was awarded to Nadezhda Shcherbakova for her manuscript “Shapito”. She was awarded a laureate diploma, a valuable prize and, most importantly, the right to publish a manuscript on a royalty basis in one of the leading publishing houses in Russia -. The awards went to three laureates, as well as winners in the special categories “Fantasy”, “Children’s Literature”, “Horror”, “Young Adult”, “Modern Prose”, “Teenage Fantasy”.
BELYAEV PRIZE (ALEXANDER BELYAEV PRIZE)
The annual Russian literary prize, awarded for scientific, artistic and popular science works, has existed since 1990. Named after the Russian Soviet science fiction writer Alexander Romanovich Belyaev, but refused to accept science fiction works in favor of educational literature. The prize is awarded to writers, translators, literary critics, as well as publishing houses, paper and online periodicals. The prize does not have a monetary component, it consists of a breast medal and a diploma (for twice laureates - a table medal and a diploma; for three times laureates - a silver breast medal and a diploma), awarded on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the Belyaev Prize, the Council for Fantastic, Adventure and Scientific Art literature and the Writers' Union of St. Petersburg.
The work of any author living in the Russian Federation or abroad can be nominated for the prize if it is written and published in Russian.
In 2018, the laureates were S. Dobryshevsky and A. Piperski in the category “scientific and fiction book”, Igor Lisov for the translation of a scientific and fiction book, the publishing houses RIPOL classic and Palmyra, as well as the magazines “Technology for Youth” and “Cosmonautics News” were awarded. .
Website of the Belyaev Prize and Festival: alexandrbelyaev.ru
ANTONOVKA. 40+
International literary competition in memory of the poet, prose writer, playwright and critic A. K. Antonov for authors over 40 years old. Works of a humanistic nature are accepted for participation in the competition in the following categories: “Poetry” (a selection of poems or a poem of no more than 350 lines); “Prose” (short story or story no more than 2 author’s sheets); “Dramaturgy” (no more than 2 plays), “Literary criticism” (1 work or selection of no more than 1 author’s sheet); "Reader's Choice Award", "Late Debut"; “No women, sir!” (for a work without female characters); "Maecenas".
The laureates will be awarded a diploma and the symbol of the Prize - a bust of A.K. Antonov. The award fund depends on the attraction of sponsorship funds and is determined separately each year.
LIBMISSION
All-Russian journalistic prize. The mission of the award is “to qualitatively improve the understanding of the current social situation in Russia by people reading in Russian.” The purpose of the prize is “to attract public attention to scientists, popularizers, and publicists who, through their works, contribute to analytical research and education of Russians and systematically clarify the current situation in Russia and in the world. The award seeks to find, identify and celebrate those who help clear the public consciousness, explain to the reader, listener, and viewer what is happening in Russia and in the world.”
The prize is awarded annually in two categories: analytics and journalism. Applicants in the “analytics” nomination can be authors of books about the current socio-political process; in the “journalism” nomination authors are awarded for a large series of informative publications in the media.
Applicants for participation in the competition may be: editorial offices of the media, public organizations, members of the jury of the award, members of the Council of the Liberal Mission Foundation.
DIGITAL JOURNALISM COMPETITION #RuMirDigital
The 1st International Digital Journalism Competition is organized by the Russkiy Mir Foundation. “The prize awarded based on the results of the Competition is a professional award and is designed to encourage the media, public organizations, as well as authors who have made a significant contribution to the development of the Russian segment of the Internet and popularizing the preservation of the Russian language and culture abroad using social networks.”
Organizations, journalists from Russian-language media and online publications, bloggers, journalism students who are creators and authors of content for accounts (pages, magazines) on social networks can take part in the competition.
Winners are selected in two categories: “Best foreign Russian-language media account on a social network” and “Popular author’s blog (account).” Within each nomination, the First Prize is established in the amount of 150,000 rubles. The First Prize laureates will also be awarded diplomas and memorial signs from the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
PRIZES FOR TRANSLATORS
READ RUSSIA
The only Russian prize for the best translation of works of Russian literature into foreign languages. Established with the support of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center, the Institute of Translation and Rospechat as part of a project of the same name aimed at popularizing and distributing Russian literature abroad.
In 2016, the prize will be awarded for the translation of works of Russian literature into the following world languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, German, Polish, French, Japanese. Translations published by foreign publishers in 2014 and 2015 are accepted for the competition.
The winners of the award receive special diplomas and a medal, as well as a monetary reward of 5,000 euros for the translator and 3,000 euros in the form of a grant for the publishing house to cover the costs of translating another work of Russian literature.
According to the results of the 4th season (2016-2018), in the nomination “Classical Russian Literature of the 19th Century” the award was given to Marta Sanchez for “Sevastopol Stories” by Leo Tolstoy, in the nomination “Literature of the 20th Century” - Anne Coldefy-Focard and Geneviève Joannet for "April of the Seventeenth" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in the nomination "Modern Russian Literature" the winner was Oliver Ready for "Rehearsals" by Vladimir Sharov, in the nomination "poetry" - Kiril Kadiysky for "Selected" by Fyodor Tyutchev. A total of 178 applications were submitted from 33 countries.
RUSSIA - ITALY. THROUGH THE CENTURIES
The International Literary Prize is awarded for the best translation from Russian into Italian and is awarded to both the translator and the publisher for works published within the last two years. Established in 2007 on the initiative of the Yeltsin Foundation. Since 2010, the official partner of the award is the Yeltsin Presidential Center. The main prize is a bronze open book by sculptor Viktor Kryuchkov in a leather case and a monetary reward that the translator and publisher receive.
In 2015, the main prize was awarded to Ornella Discaccati for the translation of Platonov’s novel “Chevengur”, as well as a prize and diploma for the translation debut of Giacomo Foni for the translation of Nikolai Berdyaev’s book “Philosophy of Inequality. Letters to enemies."
Translator Awards Page on the website of the Yeltsin Presidential Center.
NORA GAL AWARD
The prize was established in 2012, on the centenary anniversary of the outstanding Russian translator Nora Gal (1912–1991). The founders of the prize are its heirs, literary critic and editor, literary figure and translator Dmitry Kuzmin.
The material content of the main prize since 2015 is 50,000 rubles. Since 2016, a young translator for work that allows him to hope for further professional and creative growth may be awarded an incentive prize in the amount of a grant for travel and accommodation at the residence for poets and translators “Ozolnieki” (Latvia).
In 2018 the main prize was awarded to Svetlana Silakova(Moscow) for the story by Lucia Berlin (1936-2004) “Stars and Saints.”
Nominations for the 2019 award have ended March 15th, the winners will be awarded on April 26, the day before Nora Gal’s birthday.
GORKY PRIZE
The International Literary Gorky Prize was established in 2008 by the Chernomyrdin Regional Public Foundation, the Gorky Prize Association and the municipality of Capri with the aim of encouraging and developing creative activity in the field of fiction and literary translation in Russia and Italy. The Gorky Prize is awarded in two main categories - “Writers” and “Translators”. The list of works proposed for consideration by the jury consists of works in the genre of long prose (novel, story), published in translation (in Russian or Italian, respectively) within twenty years preceding the year of the competition.
The award nominees alternate between Russian and Italian writers.
The winners of the 9th season of the Gorky Literary Prize were Laura Salmon, author of translations of Sergei Dovlatov’s books into Italian, and Emanuele Trevi, author of the novel “Some of the Written Things.”
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK
Established in 2009 by the children's publishing house Rosmen. First of all, to find new authors. In this regard, it allows and encourages self-nomination. The jury of the award consists mainly of Rosman employees and authors published there. There are three categories - for ages 2–8 years and 10–16 years, as well as (for artists). The main prize of the competition is a contract with Rosman to publish the winning book. However, editors sometimes take into work works from the short and long lists.
BOOK
All-Russian competition for the best literary work for children and youth, organized by the Center for the Support of Russian Literature (which holds the Big Book Award). “Kniguru” is the only competition in the world that accepts both artistic and educational works, and the final decision is made by an open jury consisting of readers aged 10 to 16 years.
The winner receives 500,000 rubles, the second and third place holders receive 300,000 and 200,000 rubles, respectively.
In 2018, Ilga Ponornitskaya (the story “Izo”) took first place; 708 authors took part in the competition; the jury selected 15 works for the short list.
SHORT CHILDREN'S WORK
A competition organized in 2010 by the publishing house “Nastya and Nikita”. Held twice a year - in spring and. Over six years, eighteen books were published as a result of the competition.
Anyone over the age of 18 can become a children's writer. For this it is necessary until September 30, 2019 year to register the work on the competition website. The competition is held in three categories: literary texts for children (fairy tales and short stories), educational texts for children (travel books, knowledge, biographies) and “Notes of a Naturalist” (artistic and educational prose for children about Russian nature).
You can read about these and other children's competitions.
A long list of nominees for Yasnaya Polyana. At the request of The Village, Lisa Birger explains why literary awards are needed in general and whether they can help an amateur begin to navigate modern Russian literature.
Lisa Birger
How and why did literary prizes arise?
Literary awards have existed relatively recently - approximately since the beginning of the twentieth century. We, of course, can consider their forerunners to be the medieval troubadour competitions or the Academy of Sciences awards, which in Tsarist Russia were awarded for works with scientific and educational pathos. But in fact, it is clear that in order for the prize to really have some weight and significance, it is necessary for books to be a market, and literature to be an institution. But this did not happen until the last century, and in some countries (let’s not point fingers) even later. Booksellers need awards to sell books, critics and other market participants need them to identify trends, but most of all, they are needed to build a hierarchy - that is, for order. But since everyone has their own hierarchy, there are very different bonuses.
How many literary prizes are there in Russia?
A lot - much more than you think. There is the Poet Prize and the Debut Prize, the Bunin Prize and the Alexander Solzhenitsyn Prize, prizes established by the Writers' Union and the FSB. Total - several dozen, if not hundreds, but it is not at all necessary to know them all.
If there are so many awards, how do we choose which one is more important than others?
There are two important factors: money, that is, the size of the prize fund, and the quality of the expertise. For example, the “Big Book” has the second prize fund in the world (after the Nobel Prize) - how can it not be taken seriously after this?
The material reward for the Andrei Bely Prize, which existed since 1978, was one ruble, a bottle of vodka and an apple, but the choice here (until everyone quarreled in 2010) was made by professionals, and the prize remained one of the main ones for a long time. It is important how (and by whom!) books are selected, how (and by whom!) they are evaluated, and even which books we want to choose in the end: the brightest? most innovative? Most Popular? The most important? If you are looking for an ideal Russian prize, then this is, perhaps, the Enlightener Prize, which has almost nothing to do with fiction, for the best popular science book in Russian (the 2016 longlist was announced on June 7). Two respected Alexanders, Gavrilov and Arkhangelsky, select books for a long list, from which, in turn, a serious scientific jury will make a short list. The selection criteria here are clear and understandable: artistic fascination and scientific accuracy.
Or maybe there is one, but the most important prize?
Alas. But there are several important ones, which together will help to get an idea of what is happening in modern literature. The “Big Book,” for example, is good because it has three winners (first, second and third place) and a complex selection system with a bunch of experts - which did not prevent it from “losing” two of the most important ones at the short list level this year, if not in general the main books of the year: “Kaleidoscope” by Sergei Kuznetsov and “Shadow of Mazepa” by Sergei Belyakov. “Russian Booker” was supposed to bear the reputation of its British counterpart, but completely lost it in 2010, being awarded the graphomaniac novel “Flower Cross” by Elena Kolyadina. The “national bestseller” keeps trying to follow public taste and, as a result, often slaps good taste in the face. And so on - here, as in dates on Tinder, the further into the forest, the more impossible it is to meet the ideal.
Are so many novels really written in Russia?
But this is the most amazing thing: even in times of obvious publishing crisis, when there are only a few publishing houses throughout the country that still publish new Russian books, you can collect a long list of several dozen titles. And still, some books do not have a place - for example, book blogger Sergei Osipov regularly compiles his own long list of books that are not included in the “Big Book” list.
When the award winners start to coincide, then talk about trouble. This happens rarely, but, for example, in 2015, Guzel Yakhina’s novel “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” received both the first “Big Book” award and the “Yasnaya Polyana” award (and “Book of the Year” at the same time). This year, his fate may well be repeated by “Winter Road” by Leonid Yuzefovich, already noted as a “National Best Seller”. On the other hand, it’s easier for us - we’ll have to read less.
Why do awards usually have different winners? Surely they all have to choose the best book?
Different juries, from different short lists compiled by different experts, choose, in general, different things. A more personal choice according to the criterion of “what I liked most” exists only in “Natsbest”, “Big Book” votes for the most significant work of the year, “Russian Booker” tries to give an assessment from a more literary perspective. In addition, many awards (for example, Natsbest) have a rule according to which winners of other awards cannot be nominated for them.
Can premiums be wrong?
And how - what is the award of the “Russian Booker” in 2010 to the helpless graphomaniac and almost five minutes pornographic novel by Elena Kolyadina “Flower Cross”. A recent example is the Poet Prize in 2015: Yuliy Kim became its laureate, after which two former laureates, Alexander Kushner and Evgeny Rein, not the last, to put it mildly, poets of our time, left the jury.
In fact, the fairness (or unfairness) of awarding a prize can most often be assessed only after time. And here - a very telling example - all these expert advice and cunning jury votes sometimes allow you to miss the most important thing. In 2011, Russian Booker, having not had time to go through the full nomination procedure due to a change of sponsor, decided to choose not the best book of the year, but the main book of the decade from the nominees of previous years. The winner was Alexander Chudakov’s almost unnoticed novel “A Darkness Falls on the Old Steps” from the shortlist for the 2001 Booker Prize. Only ten years later it became clear that this autobiographical “idyll novel” about how one could live the twentieth century with honor turned out to be more important than the fantasies about this very century by Mikhail Shishkin and Lyudmila Ulitskaya.
What to do if it doesn’t get any easier?
The simplest thing is not to try to understand all the awards at once, but to choose the one that you like best and read all its nominees. A short list of literary awards for your reference looks something like this: “Big Book”, “Russian Booker”, “National Bestseller”, “NOS”, “Yasnaya Polyana”. Well, there is also the “Enlightener” award, the laureates (and shortlisted nominees) of which you should read all of them in their entirety, if you read anything at all.
"Big Book"
Prize with ambition
A huge prize fund, a complex system of nominations, several winners and an attempt at all levels to involve as many experts as possible: in the Literary Academy alone, which determines the winners by voting, there are about a hundred people. Thanks to all this, the Big Book, which has existed since 2005, managed to achieve the status of almost the main prize in Russia. It may not yet influence the literary process (the winner will not wake up famous), but it fully reflects its course.
Procedure:
From the nominated works (almost anyone can nominate a book or manuscript), a council of experts first selects a long list (April), then a short list (May), and then the books on the short list are read for six months and given points by members of the Literary Academy of the Prize. If there are about a hundred people in the academy itself, then the council of experts is narrow and strict and consists mainly of editors of thick journals, so if the “Big Book” manages to overlook and ignore something important, then, as a rule, it is still at the level of a long list.
It is formed by the Prize's Board of Trustees - it usually includes journalists, writers and cultural figures.
Prize fund:
The winner of the “Big Book” receives 3 million rubles, the second and third place holders receive one and a half and a million, respectively.
Laureates:
One can argue about the distribution of places, but a look at the Big Book does reflect the literary situation of the decade. “The Laurel” by Evgeny Vodolazkin, “Telluria” by Vladimir Sorokin, “The Flood Zone” by Roman Senchin, “The Abode” by Zakhar Prilepin, “The Candle” by Valery Zalotukha - so different, these novels have really been the most discussed in recent years.
Three Important Book Laureates
Valery Zalotukha
"Candle"
M.: “Time”
Second Prize 2015
A grandiose (one and a half thousand pages!) “novel about everything,” but in fact, first of all, about how we all (using the example of an individual hero) live and burn.
Vladimir Sorokin “Telluria”
Second Prize 2014
The most significant novel by a modern classic to date, the latest and most accurate forecast of our unhappy future.
Sergey Belyakov
"Gumilyov, son of Gumilyov"
Second Prize 2013
Not the least in a series of outstanding second prizes is Sergei Belyakov’s historical novel about Lev Gumilyov, valuable not only for its attentiveness and honesty towards the hero and his ideas, but also for the author’s ability to tell this complex story to a wide range of readers without fantasy or vulgarity.
"Yasnaya Polyana"
In search of classics
The Yasnaya Polyana Prize is distinguished by an impressive prize fund and a tendency towards consistency: the same jury, using the same criteria, selects books of constant quality. The choice is sometimes too obvious, sometimes strange, but one cannot help but be glad to be able to trust it.
Procedure:
Experts (magazines, critics, publishing houses, jury members) nominate books, from which the same jury first selects a long list (June), then a short list (September), and then winners in several categories (October).
“Yasnaya Polyana” has an almost unchanged jury, consisting of honorary literary scholars and critics, its constant chairman is Vladimir Tolstoy, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation for Culture and Art.
Prize fund:
7 million rubles. The winner of the “XXI Century” nomination has the biggest winnings: 2 million.
Laureates:
The main idea of “Yasnaya Polyana” is to reward for closeness to the classics, and the two main nominations are for those who have already become classics (the nomination is called “Modern Classics”) and those who are just striving for this (the “XXI Century” nomination) ). As a result, the first nomination is awarded as if for merit, and based on the totality of the latter, Andrei Bitov, Valentin Rasputin and Fazil Iskander became winners in different years. And in the second nomination, the fate of the “Big Book” is often duplicated, which is awarded later and does not look back at “Yasnaya Polyana”: “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” by Guzeli Yakhina in 2015, “Laurel” by Evgeny Vodolazkin in 2013.
And yet, “Yasnaya Polyana” has the remarkable ability to highlight strong and powerful literature - “The Island” by Vasily Golovanov, stories for children by Yuri Nechiporenko, stories by Mikhail Tarkovsky. Well, the long list of the “Foreign Literature” nomination over the years can even be considered a list of required reading.
Three important laureate books:
Vasily Golovanov
"Island"
M.: Ad Marginem
2009 Award
Ten years of travel to the polar island of Kolguev - a search for the meaning of life in a single space. It is significant that “The Island” won the award the second time - it was published in 2002 almost unnoticed and only in 2008 was it triumphantly republished in Ad Marginem as - deservedly - one of the main books of the decade.
Lyudmila Saraskina "Alexander Solzhenitsyn"
M.: “Young Guard”
2008 Award
Outstanding - both in terms of the amount of material and the author’s ability to maintain a poker face towards his hero in difficult moments - the biography of one of the greatest Russian writers of the last century.
Aleksey Ivanov
"The gold of rebellion"
or Down the River Gorges"
St. Petersburg: “ABC-classics”
2006 Award
It’s hard to believe, but all the big three literary awards diligently bypassed the most read and popular author of the decade: in his piggy bank only “Yasnaya Polyana” for the historical novel “The Gold of Rebellion”.
"Russian Booker"
Poor little brother
The Russian Booker Prize is the younger brother of the British Booker Prize. It was created in 1992 at the initiative of the British Council, but eventually became something completely different. Like its British older brother, the Russian Booker has a different jury every year (we were never able to see the ideal British ratio of booksellers, writers, publishers and experts in the jury; for the Booker Prize they are weighed in grams). The result is inconsistency and taste - we never know what surprises to expect from this jury, and more often than others we want to challenge its decisions. Even the long list of awards is significantly limited by the fact that it is formed almost exclusively by publishers. Paradoxically, however, it is precisely the imperfect choice of the Russian Booker that often allows it to create trends rather than follow them, but the status of one of the oldest independent awards does not allow us to give up on it completely.
Procedure:
All publishers, as well as selected libraries and universities, have the right to nominate for the Booker. From the nominated books, the jury selects a long list in July, a short list in October, and by December announces the winner - usually timed to coincide with the non/fiction fair.
Five people - as a rule, writers, critics, philologists (publishers and librarians usually fall out, since they have the right to nominate), who change every year.
Prize fund
The laureate receives 1,500,000 rubles, the finalists receive ten times less.
Laureates:
Andrey Volos (the novel “Return to Panjrud”), but not Evgeny Vodolazkin (“Laurel”), Alexander Snegirev (“Vera”), but not Roman Senchin (“Flood Zone”), Elena Kolyadina (“Flower Cross”), but not Margarita Hemlin (“Klotsvog”). The list of imperfect Booker decisions can be continued for a long time, but we are used to it, we don’t complain - and we even get some pleasure from the process.
Three important laureate books:
Andrey Volos
"Return to Panjrud"
2013 Award
It's a long road from Bukhara to Panjrud for a guide boy and a blind old man, but since the old man is actually the greatest poet (and a real historical figure), their journey eventually becomes something more than a simple road story. Andrey Volos reveals to us the medieval East in a fascinating, rapturous and knowledgeable way, and the prize that everyone predicted for Evgeniy Vodolazkin that year has rarely been so deserved.
Vladimir Sharov “Return to Egypt”
M.: Edited by Elena Shubina
2014 Award
A novel in the letters of the descendants of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, in which one of the heroes casually writes “Dead Souls” - the book continues in our time the thoughts and aspirations of the century before last.
Olga Slavnikova
"2017"
M.: "Vagrius"
2006 Award
A Ural dystopia that grew out of Bazhov’s fairy tales, Slavnikova was one of the first authors to figure out what the reader wants.
"National bestseller"
If there are no bestsellers, you need to invent them
The “National Bestseller” award was invented in 2001 as a truly democratic one: here Sergei Shnurov, Ksenia Sobchak or Artemy Troitsky could suddenly turn out to be the honorary chairman of the jury. Professionals and experts usually draw up a long list of nominators - and here they are especially careful to ensure that everyone participates in the process. In the end, it still turns out to be rock and roll, but since it usually begins only at the last stage, “Natsbest”, as a rule, has funny short lists and long interesting lists. The award also really dreams that its motto “Wake up famous” will be fulfilled for the laureate, but since you still can’t enter it from the street, this has not happened yet.
Procedure:
Nominators nominate books to a long list. The grand jury, each member of which has the right to choose two works from it and give them three and one points respectively, votes for the short list (this voting is open - reviews and jury scores can be read on the website). The small jury again chooses the winner by open vote. Everything happens quite quickly: in February there is a long list, in April there is a short list, and in June there is already a winner, so why wait?
Top 15 literary awards, the laureates and nominees of which are worth paying close attention to. If you're wondering what to read, take a look here!
1. National Literary Award "Big Book"
The prize was established in 2005 and is one of the most prestigious awards awarded for works of large form published in Russian in the reporting year.
The prize winners over the years were Dmitry Bykov, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Leonid Yuzefovich, Vladimir Makanin, Pavel Basinsky, Mikhail Shishkin, Zakhar Prilepin.
The award jury consists of about 100 people, which ensures the independence and breadth of the award’s expertise. The monetary fund is 5.5 million rubles, of which 3 million goes to the first prize winner. Becoming a winner of this award means not only attracting reader attention to the book, but also increasing consumer demand.
2. Nobel Prize in Literature
On the one hand, the prize, established by the Swedish chemical engineer, inventor of dynamite and industrialist Alfred Nobel, is the most prestigious in the world. On the other hand, it is one of the most controversial, criticized and discussed prizes in the world. Many critics consider the award to be politicized and biased. However, whatever one may say, the writer to whom it is awarded wakes up in the morning famous throughout the world, and sales of his books increase sharply.
Russian writers received the prize five times: 1933 - Bunin, 1958 - Pasternak (who refused the prize), 1965 - Sholokhov, 1970 - Solzhenitsyn, 1987 - Brodsky.
3. Pulitzer Prize
One of the most honorable US awards in the fields of literature, journalism, music and theater, invariably attracting the interest of readers around the world.
4. Booker Prize
It is rightfully considered one of the most prestigious literary prizes awarded for a work written in English. Salman Rushdie, Richard Flanagan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Iris Murdoch, Julian Barnes, Coetzee, Ondaatje and many others. The list of laureates since 1969 is impressive, some of them later becoming Nobel laureates in literature.
5. Prix Goncourt for Literature
France's main literary prize, 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, but not necessarily living in France. The prize fund is symbolic, but its award brings fame, recognition and increased sales of his books to the author.
The prize winners were Marcel Proust (1919), Maurice Druon (1948), Simone de Beauvoir (1954).
6. Yasnaya Polyana Award
Established in 2003 by the museum-estate of L. N. Tolstoy “Yasnaya Polyana” with the support of Samsung Electronics.
Awarded in four categories: “Modern Classics”, “XXI Century” - the 2015 laureate was “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” by Guzeli Yakhina, “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" and "Foreign Literature".
7. “Enlightener” Award
The Enlightener Award for the best popular science book in Russian was established in 2008 by the founder and Honorary President of the Vimpelcom company (Beeline trademark) Dmitry Zimin and the Dynasty Non-profit Program Fund in order to attract readers' attention to the educational genre, encouragement authors and creating the prerequisites for expanding the market of educational literature in Russia.
8. Writer of the Year Award
The National Literary Award “Writer of the Year” was established by the Russian Union of Writers with the aim of finding new talented authors who can make a contribution to modern literature. Laureates receive contracts to publish their works, financed by the Russian Writers' Union. The competitive selection of authors is carried out on the literary portal Proza.ru.
9. National Prize "Russian Booker"
The prize was established in 1992 on the initiative of the British Council in Russia as the Russian equivalent of the Booker Prize and is awarded for the best novel in Russian published in the reporting year. Its laureates were Bulat Okudzhava, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Vasily Aksenov.
10. National Bestseller Award
Established in 2001. The motto of the award is: “Wake up famous.” “The purpose of the award is to reveal the otherwise unclaimed market potential of prose works distinguished by high artistry and/or other merits.”
The prize winners were Leonid Yuzefovich, Zakhar Prilepin, Dmitry Bykov, Victor Pelevin.
11. “NOS” Award
Established in 2009 by the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation “to identify and support new trends in modern literary literature in Russian.” The main feature of the award is the openness of the decision-making process, namely: the jury is obliged to publicly justify the choice of finalists and winner in a talk show in the presence and with the participation of journalists, writers and the cultural community. In addition to the winner of the main prize, the winner of the reader's vote is also determined.
12. “BOOK” Award
All-Russian competition for the best literary work for children and youth, in which the final decision is made by a jury consisting of young readers aged 10 to 16 years.
13. “Debut” Award
An independent literary prize for authors writing in Russian and not older than 35 years. Established in 2000 by Andrey Skoch’s Generation Foundation. The award coordinator is writer Olga Slavnikova. It is important that a contract for the publication of his work is concluded with the prize winner in each category.
14. Book of the Year Award
Established in 1999 by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications. Awarded during the MIBF in nine categories.
15. International Children's Literary Award named after Vladislav Krapivin
Established in 2006 by the Ural Writers Association. The prize accepts works for children and teenagers. It is important that the work be written in Russian with a volume of at least 1.5 author’s pages (60 thousand characters with spaces).
Thousands of literary awards are held every year around the world. Millions of applications are submitted to participate. The awards are held nationally and globally, in different categories: children's literature, poetry, fiction and nonfiction, science fiction and fantasy.
From 1969 to 2001, the prize was known as the Booker Prize. Since 2005, the main sponsor of the prize has been the Man Group, and therefore the prize has been renamed the Man Booker Prize. The awards are presented every two years. Initially, the Booker Prize only accepted works from the Commonwealth countries, Zimbabwe and Ireland. But since 2014, the award has acquired international status, which has made it possible to expand the number of participants - a writer from any country whose novel is written in English can become a nominee. You can only become a laureate once. The cash prize is 60 thousand pounds sterling. The International Prize has a separate award for the translation of a novel. Since 2016, the Booker Prize has been awarded for the translation of a fiction novel, with the winning author and translator receiving £50,000.
The man credited with founding the Pulitzer Prize was Joseph Pulitzer, a respected journalist from a wealthy family who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The prize is awarded for work in the field of music, literature and journalism, and is taken into account in the Internet space and print media - newspapers and magazines. The Pulitzer Prize is administered by Columbia University and is awarded in 21 categories. Winners of 20 categories are awarded a certificate and $15,000. A gold medal is awarded to one winner by the Civil Service Division of the journalism competition. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was founded in 1918. The first recipient of the prize was Ernest Poole. He received an award for his novel His Family.
Another prestigious literary prize, the Neustadt Prize, originated in the United States in 1969. It received its original name “International Prize for Foreign Literature” from its founder, editor of foreign books Ivar Ivaska. The award changed its name in 1976 and was named in honor of new sponsors, Walter and Doris Neustadt of Ardmore, Oklahoma. Since that time, the University of Oklahoma has been a permanent sponsor of the award. The winner of the award receives a certificate, a silver eagle feather award, and $50,000. The award recognizes outstanding work in the fields of drama, poetry, and fiction.
The award was established in 1971 under the name Whitbread Prize. In 2006, Costa Coffee became the official sponsor of the award, which led to its renaming to the Costa Award. Applicants may be authors from the UK and Ireland whose works are written in English. The Prize recognizes not only brilliant and outstanding works in the field of literature, but also books that bring pleasure to reading. Promoting reading as an enjoyable pastime is one of the main goals of the award. The prize is awarded in the following categories: Biography, Novel, Children's Literature, Best First Novel and Poetry. The laureates receive 5 thousand pounds sterling.
The American Prize for Literature was introduced in 1994. It is awarded to authors who have made contributions to the field of international writing. In part, the prize was created as an alternative to the famous Nobel Prize in Literature. The prize is sponsored by an educational contemporary art project. The prize itself was founded in memory of Anna Farni. Each year, 6 to 8 jurors, including renowned American literary critics, playwrights, poets and writers, meet to determine the winner. The winner does not receive any cash prize for winning.
The prize ranks among the United Kingdom's most coveted literary awards. The original name was the Orange Literary Prize. The prize is awarded annually to a female author, regardless of nationality, for an outstanding full-length novel published in the UK in the past year in English. In 1991, the Booker Prize initiated the establishment of the Women's Prize for Fiction, as the committee did not include women in its lists of nominees. After this, a group of men and women who worked in the literary industry met and considered their next steps. The winner of the award receives 30 thousand British pounds sterling and a bronze statuette.
The Hugo Awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the man behind the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. The prize is awarded for the best work published in the past year and written in the genres of science fiction or fantasy. The Hugo Awards are sponsored by the World Science Fiction Society.
The award has been presented at the annual World Science Fiction Convention since 1953 in several categories, including: Best Short Story, Best Graphic Story, Best Fanzine, Best Professional Artist, Best Fancast, Best Dramatic Presentation " and "The best book about science fiction."
The prize was established in July 2008 by the University of Warwick. It has no analogues in the world and consists of an interdisciplinary writing competition. Students, alumni and staff of the University of Warwick, as well as those working in the publishing industry, can nominate work. Every year a new theme is approved for the award. must be written in English.
Every year an international poetry festival takes place in the city of Struga, Macedonia. The festival's coveted Golden Crown award goes to the most talented international poets. The festival was first held in 1961 with the participation of famous Macedonian poets. A few years later, in 1966, the festival was transformed from national to international. In the same year, the highest award, the Golden Crown Award, was established, the first laureate of which was Robert Rozhdestvensky. Over the years of the award, its laureates have included such outstanding literary figures as Seamus Haney, Joseph Brodsky and Pablo Neruda.
The Nobel Prize is named after Albert Nobel, a man who made significant contributions to the fields of chemistry, literature, engineering and entrepreneurship in the 1800s. Already at the age of 17, he spoke 5 foreign languages fluently. In his will, Albert Nobel stipulated the conditions for establishing the prize and allocated his own money for this. All Nobel Prizes are controlled by different institutions. The Nobel Prize in Literature is administered by the Swedish Academy. The winner receives a medal and a cash prize, the amount of which varies from year to year. The Academy determines the people and institutions that may be nominated for the award. Professors of literature and linguistics at higher educational institutions, Nobel Literary Prize laureates and members of the Swedish Academy have the right to nominate themselves. The Nobel Committee for Literature screens candidates and transmits the collected information to the Swedish Academy. The prize has been awarded since 1901 to writers from different countries.
Facts about literary awards - video
Quick facts about the most famous literary prizes:
The boom in literary awards in Russia is a sign of the last 20 years, but it cannot be said that they were invented only now. What if not a bonus were, for example, rings, snuff boxes and other valuable gifts, which Emperor Alexander I loved to give to writers in abundance. It is known that in 1802 alone, the tsar spent an amount unheard of at that time on encouraging writers - 160 thousand rubles .
The main Soviet prize, the Stalin Prize, became a direct continuation of the imperial tradition. Now this is rarely remembered, but at first its fund was formed from the fees that Stalin received for publishing his works in different countries. That is, it was also a personal royal reward of 100 thousand rubles. After the death of the leader, the Stalin Prizes were replaced by Lenin Prizes (10 thousand rubles) and State Prizes (5 thousand). This was an amount sufficient to buy a car.
The era of independent awards began in 1991 with the establishment of the Russian Booker. Russian literature then received reinforcements in the form of British money. The Booker Prize itself is of British origin, its name comes from the name of the Booker company, famous for the production of canned vegetables. In the early 1990s, Booker’s agents drew attention to the huge field of activity that Russian literature represented, but there was no clearly defined material gain being pursued. As with most other literary awards, by the way, their founders are driven more by image considerations.
“Russian Booker” did not remain the only major prize for long. In 1995, the management of Nezavisimaya Gazeta (and in fact, its owner Boris Berezovsky) established a competing award, which was called Anti-Booker. Its size was $12,001, that is, a dollar more than that of the Russian Booker. In 2001, with increased pressure on Berezovsky and the initiation of criminal cases against him, Anti-Booker ceased to exist.
But by that time, players began to appear one after another on the field of Russian literary awards. To date, their number has reached six hundred. Trud recalled the main ones.
Established in November 2005.
Prize fund: With a prize fund of 5.5 million rubles, it is one of the largest in the world. The size of the first prize is 3 million rubles, the second - 1.5 million, the third - 1 million.
Who gives money: founders are the Ministry of Culture, Rospechat, the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, but the monetary component is mainly provided by Gazprom.
Distinctive feature: awarding not only works of art, but also literature in the non-fiction genre.
Established in 2008 on the personal initiative of Anatoly Chubais.
Prize fund: one prize of 50 thousand dollars is awarded.
Who gives money: at first it was supported by RAO UES of Russia; after Chubais left there, it came under the wing of the Future Energy fund, specially established by the businessman.
Distinctive feature: only living contemporary poets can become laureates. Among the laureates are Sergei Gandlevsky, Timur Kibirov, Alexander Kushner.
Established in September 2003.
Prize fund: the prize in the “Modern Classics” nomination is equal to 900 thousand rubles, in the “Literature of the 21st Century” nomination - 750 thousand.
Who gives money: established by the Leo Tolstoy Estate Museum in Yasnaya Polyana and the South Korean company Samsung Electronics, which sponsors the award.
Distinctive feature: supports the works of contemporary authors developing the humanistic ideas of Leo Tolstoy.
Established in 1998 by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Prize fund: 25 thousand dollars.
Who gives money: The Alexander Solzhenitsyn Foundation, founded by the writer in 1974 and collecting royalties from all editions of his book “The Gulag Archipelago”.
Distinctive feature: awarded to writers living in Russia who created their works after the 1917 revolution. Genres: prose, poetry, drama, literary criticism and literary criticism.
Established in March 2009.
Prize fund: 700 thousand rubles. Reader's Choice Award - 200 thousand rubles.
Who gives money: established by the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation. Part of the Book World project, led by publisher Irina Prokhorova.
Distinctive feature: created to support new trends in modern Russian literature.
Established in December 1991.
Prize fund: 12 thousand dollars.
Who gives money: main sponsor is British Petroleum.
Distinctive feature: being the first post-Soviet prize, it is distinguished by its emphasis on dissident literature. Among the laureates are Vasily Aksenov, Georgy Vladimov.
Established in 2001 on the initiative of literary critic Viktor Toporov.
Prize fund: 10 thousand dollars.
Who gives money: The award fund is formed from the funds of the investment and construction company “Vistcom”.
Distinctive feature: honors the best novel of the year. Information about which of the nominees nominates whom is open.
The biggest prizes in the world
Nobel (Sweden) - 1.05 million euros
Chino del Duca (France) - 300 thousand euros
Dublin (Ireland) - 100 thousand euros
IMPAC (Ireland - USA) - 100 thousand euros
“Miguel de Cervantes” (Spain) - 90 thousand euros
Goethe Prize (Germany) - 50 thousand euros
Writers who made the most money from awards
Lyudmila Ulitskaya
3.35 million rubles
The novels “The Case of Kukotsky” and “Daniel Stein, Translator” were awarded by the “Russian Booker” (2001) and the “Big Book” (2007).
Dmitry Bykov
3 million rubles
The biographical novel “Boris Pasternak” was awarded the “Big Book” and “National Bestseller” awards in 2006.
Mikhail Shishkin
1.3 million rubles
The novel "Venus's Hair" was awarded the "Big Book" award in 2006 and the "National Bestseller" award in 2005.
Lyudmila Saraskina
2.25 million rubles
Her biography “Alexander Solzhenitsyn” was awarded the “Big Book” and “Yasnaya Polyana” prizes in 2008.
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