The Franz Kafka Prize was an international literary award given in honor of Franz Kafka, a Jewish writer from Bohemia who wrote in German. The prize was first given in 2001 and was supported together by the Franz Kafka Society and the city of Prague in the Czech Republic.

Award information and history

Each year, a ceremony takes place at the Old Town Hall in Prague. The winner of this event receives $10,000, a certificate, and a bronze statue. This honor is frequently referred to as the "Kafka Prize" or "Kafka Award."

The award became more respected in the 2000s after two of its winners later received the Nobel Prize in Literature in the same year they won the Kafka Award. These winners were Elfriede Jelinek (2004) and Harold Pinter (2005).

To win the award, an artwork must show a focus on human values and promote cultural, national, language, and religious tolerance. It must also have an existential and timeless nature, be meaningful to all people, and provide a record of our times.