The winners of the 2016 European Union Prize for Literature were announced on 5 April at the European Commission by Mr. Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The award recognises the best new and emerging authors in Europe. This year’s winners are:
Tanja Stupar-Trifunović (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Christophe Van Gerrewey (Belgium); Antonis Georgiou (Cyprus); Bjørn Rasmussen (Denmark); Paavo Matsin (Estonia); Selja Ahava (Finland); Nenad Joldeski (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia); Benedict Wells (Germany); Gast Groeber (Luxembourg); Claudiu M. Florian (Romania); Jasmin B. Frelih (Slovenia) and Jesús Carrasco (Spain).

Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, said: “I warmly congratulate all 12 winners of this year’s European Union Prize for Literature. With cultural and linguistic diversity at its heart, this prize honours new and emerging authors from across Europe, helping them reach new readers outside their home countries. Literature and the free written word enable us to better understand ourselves and others – something that is today more important than ever. That is why we will keep supporting the translation, publishing, sale and reading of foreign literary works.”

The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) is open to the countries participating in Creative Europe, the EU funding programme for the cultural and creative sectors 2014-2020. Every year, national juries in one third of the participating countries -12 this time- nominate the winning authors. See annex for authors’ biographies and a synopsis of the winning books.

Each winner receives € 5 000. More importantly, the authors benefit from extra promotion and international visibility at Europe’s major book fairs, including Frankfurt, London and Paris. Publishers are encouraged to apply for EU funding to have the winning books translated into other languages to reach new readers.

This year’s Prize winners will be presented with their awards during a public awards ceremony at Concert Noble in Brussels on 31 May, in the presence of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics; Mrs. Silvia Costa, MEP and Chair of the Culture and Education Committee and representatives of the Dutch Presidency of the EU.

The EUPL is organised by the European and International Booksellers Federation, the European Writers’ Council and the Federation of European Publishers, with the support of the European Commission.

Dr. Nick Yapp, President of the European Writers’ Council, said: “The announcement of the 2016 winners of the European Union Prize for Literature marks the beginning of a recognition and celebration of the literary talent of new writers from many European countries. It is one of those key moments when creativity is recognised and applauded. It is proof that our culture, on which so much of our enjoyment of life depends and on which so much of our economy is based, is in good hands. The European Writers’s Council is delighted to have played its part in the organisation of this event, and wishes a creative future to those writers we celebrate today.”

Says Jean-Luc Treutenaere, co-President of EIBF: “It is with renewed pleasure that I see the emergence of yet another generation of talented emerging European authors awarded with the EUPL Prize. I wish them all the success they deserve and booksellers are extremely keen to promote the winning books.”

Pierre Dutilleul, President of the Federation of European Publishers, added: “It is a great pleasure and privilege to read and meet the EUPL winners, emerging literary talents who illustrate so perfectly the diversity of our continent. I wish each of them a great writing career.”

Background

The EUPL receives funding from the new Creative Europe programme, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the cultural and creative sectors, and to promote cultural diversity. The programme has a total budget of €1.46 billion in 2014-2020, which represents a 9% increase compared with previous levels. The programme aims to provide funding for the translation of up to 4,500 books from and into European languages. It will also help more than 250 000 artists, cultural professionals and their works to gain international visibility, as well as supporting hundreds of European cultural cooperation projects, platforms and networks.

Under the previous Culture Programme, 2009-2013, the European Commission granted €2.5 million a year on average for literary translation and more than €2.4 million for cooperation projects involving the book sector.

The Creative Europe programme, in its 2 first years, 2014 and 2015, has helped finance the translation of about 1000 books, from and into a range of 34 European languages.

The book and publishing sector contributes €35-40 billion to the EU’s economy. EWC represents hundreds of thousands of writers and publishing employs full time 125.000 persons. Book publishing is a significant part of the cultural and creative sectors, which account for up to 4.5% of EU GDP and 8 million jobs. Although these sectors have proved relatively resilient in the crisis, they also face considerable challenges stemming from the digital shift, globalisation and a market which is fragmented along cultural and linguistic lines.

Countries currently participating in Creative Europe are: the 28 Member States of the EU, the EU candidate and potential candidate countries; Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey; the EFTA/EEA countries Iceland and Norway and the partner countries; Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine do not yet participate in the EUPL.

For more information

Website of the Prize: http://www.euprizeliterature.eu/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/euplprize
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/European-Union-Prize-for-Literature/201625279911585
Culture portal of the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/index_en.htm
Creative Europe programme: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/index_en.htm