The European Union Prize for Literature is an annual initiative to recognize the best emerging authors in Europe. On May 23, twelve winners from different European countries will receive the European Union Prize for Literature 2017 from the hands of the European Commissioner for Culture. The main ceremony will be organized in Brussels, in the ballroom of Concert Noble.
The next day (May 24th), the public will have a chance to meet the five of the winners at a literary evening in deBuren, organised by EUNIC Brussels. The laureates from the Netherlands, Latvia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and the Czech Republic will read excerpts from their winning books. The Dutch winner Jamal Ouariachi received the prize for his highly acclaimed novel A Hunger (2015). The other authors who will join the literary evening at deBuren are Bianca Bellová (the Czech Republic), Aleksandar Bečanović (Montenegro), Ina Vultchanova (Bulgaria) and Osvalds Zebris (Latvia). To read more about the authors or to register for the literary event, you can visit the website of deBuren.
Launched by the European Commission in 2009, the prize is open to countries participating in the Creative Europe programme for the cultural and creative sectors. The competition is organised by a consortium consisting of the European Booksellers Federation, the European Writers’ Council, and the Federation of European Publishers. The prize aims to highlight the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literature, promote a greater circulation of European literature, help cross border sales of books and foster greater interest in publishing, selling, and reading non-national literary works.
Click on the link to learn more about the Commission’s website for EU Prize for Literature or at the official website of the programme.
