The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) was created in 2009. It is a literary award given by the European Union. The goal of the prize is to acknowledge talented new writers from across Europe. It also helps spread and translate books between European countries. Additionally, it shows how creative and different European literature is.
About the Award
The EUPL is supported by the "Creative Europe" program, which is a European Commission initiative that helps the culture and audiovisual sectors. The prize is managed by a group of organizations, including the European Writers' Council, the Federation of European Publishers, and the European and International Booksellers Federation, with help from the European Commission. The EUPL Consortium is in charge of creating national juries and organizing the EUPL award ceremony. They also help winners promote their work across Europe and beyond, through online platforms, bookstores, and book fairs.
Each year, national juries made up of experts in literature, publishing, and bookselling are formed in a third of the countries that take part in the Creative Europe program. These juries select 2 to 5 books from their country's most promising writers and choose one national winner. Over three years, all participating countries are represented, with one winning book or author chosen per country each cycle. The current list of participating countries includes:
In 2022, the European Commission announced changes to the prize's structure. Starting then, national organizations would first select books and nominate one book each. A seven-member European jury would then choose one overall winner and five special mentions.
In response, the European Writers' Council said they would stop participating in the prize, explaining that the new format "does not promote multilingualism."
Each EUPL winner receives €5,000. Their book also gets support for translation and promotion. Every year, an EUPL anthology is published, containing excerpts from all winners' books in the original language and in English or French translations.
Winners
The winners for 2009 were announced in November 2009.
The winners for 2010 were announced on 18 November 2010.
The winners for 2011 were announced on 11 October 2011.
The EUPL Award Ceremony was held in Brussels on 22 October 2012.
The winners were announced on 26 September 2013. The ceremony took place in Brussels on 26 November 2013.
The winners were announced on 8 October 2014 at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The winners were announced in April 2015 at the opening ceremony of the London Book Fair by Tibor Navracsics, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport at that time.
The winners were announced in April 2016 at the European Commission.
The winners were announced on 21 April 2017.
In 2018, the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) celebrated its 10th anniversary. To honor this event, the EUPL organized a writing contest open to all 108 previous EUPL winners. The EUPL Anniversary Edition, a short fiction competition, recognized five winners.
The winners were announced on 24 May 2019.
The winners were announced on 19 May 2020.
The winners were announced on 18 May 2021.
The 2022 edition of the Prize introduced a new format. For the first time, a seven-member European jury selected one overall winner for this edition, along with five special mentions.
Translations
The European Union supports the sharing of books across countries in Europe and other places. The list below shows some examples of books that have won the EUPL award and are available in English.