EU Prize for Literature

Ahead of Europe Day this Saturday, 9 May, we spoke with three EUPL winners: Gast Groeber, our 2016 winner from Luxembourg, Haska Shyyan, our 2019 winner from Ukraine, and Immanuel Mifsud, our 2011 winner from Malta. During out talk, we explored how our winning authors experience the linguistic and cultural landscape in Europe, discussed how EUPL helped them overcome potential barriers to reach wider audiences, and spoke about the current pandemic and how that might have influenced their writing and thinking about global world.

In the second episode of a new #EUPLonline reading podcast, our 2019 laureate Marta Dzido from Poland reads the English excerpt of her winning book ‘Frajda’, or 'Thrills' in English. Listen here and make sure to come back next week to find out how the story continues.

Part 1: here 

Part 3: here

In the first episode of a new #EUPLonline reading podcast, our 2019 laureate Marta Dzido from Poland reads the English excerpt of her winning book ‘Frajda’, or 'Thrills' in English. Listen here and make sure to come back next week to find out how the story continues. 

Part 2: here

Part 3: here

Our first EUPL Book Club spotlighted dystopian fiction. We explored the worlds created by three EUPL winning authors: Jasmin B. Frelih in 'In/Half', Bianca Bellová in 'The Lake', and Piia Leino in 'Heaven'. 

Our first discussion took place on 22 April, and we were joined by our three winning authors for an engaging talk on dystopian fiction and the worlds they've created in their novels. Catch up with our discussion. 

A while ago we had an opportunity to speak with Nikos Chryssos, our 2019 winner from Greece. Nicos talks about what meeting other EUPL winners means to him, common themes he saw emerging between them, and why books and bookstores hold a special place in his heart. 

Born in 1972 in Athens, Nikos Chryssos (Νίκος Χρυσός) studied at the Department of  Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and at the Department of Film Direction at the School of Cinematography ‘Lykourgos Stavrakos’. He is the owner of an old books’ store in Athens. He wrote the novels The Secret of the Last Page (Το μυστικό της τελευταίας σελίδας, Kastaniotis Editions 2009) and New Day (Καινούργια μέρα, Kastaniotis Editions 2018). In 2014 he edited the annotated revised edition of the book Unforgettable Times (Αξέχαστοι καιροί) by Lefteris Alexiou as well as the collected volume Stories of Books (Ιστορίες βιβλίων), both published by Kastaniotis Editions.  Since September 2018 he has been the Vice-President of the Greek Section of the ‘International Society of Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis’ (ISFNK). 

Find out more: https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/authors/nikos-chryssos 

Sophie Daull est la gagnante française du Prix de littérature de l'Union Européenne (EUPL) 2019. A l'occasion de sa présence à la Foire du Livre de Bruxelles le 8 mars 2020, journée internationale du droit des femmes, notre assistante EUPL française Aurore prend de ses nouvelles. La discussion aborde les retombées du prix, sa carrière d'écrivaine, la vulnérabilité de l'acte d'écriture, l'autocensure des femmes en littérature...

Sophie Daull est une comédienne et écrivaine née dans l’Est en 1965. C'est l'étude de la musique au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Strasbourg qui l'éveille très tôt à la pratique artistique. Depuis, son parcours s'oriente vers une recherche toujours plus fouillée du monde des lettres, des sons et du mouvement. Elle a dansé avec Odile Duboc, Georges Appaix et Jean Gaudin. Au théâtre, elle a travaillé avec Brigitte Jaques-Wajeman, Carole Thibaut, Jacques Lassalle, Hubert Colas, Alain Ollivier, Stéphane Braunschweig Alain Barsacq et Agathe Alexis, et plus récemment Elisabeth Chailloux et Roland Auzet.

Elle est l’auteure de Camille, mon Envolée (2015), Prix du Premier Roman du magazine Lire, de La Suture (2016) et de Au grand Lavoir (2018), publiés aux Editions Philippe Rey. Les deux premiers sont disponibles au Livre de Poche.

On entend régulièrement sa voix sur France Culture.

Isabelle Wéry was one of the winners from the EUPL 2013 issue, namely from Belgium. The EUPL team spoke with Isabelle ahead of a culture event with other EUPL winners in Brussels, Belgium.  

Isabelle Wéry is a Belgian actress, theatre director and author. Born in Liège, she studied acting at INSAS in Brussels until 1991. In parallel with her work as an actress with a variety of directors, she writes and creates her own theatre works.

Three times nominated for the Prix de la Critique de Théâtre Belge (for the Seul en Scène category), she received the prize in 2008 for her original theatre piece La tranche de Jean-Daniel Magnin.

Her written debut for the stage was with La mort du cochon, for which she received her first nomination for the Prix du Theatre. At the Théâtre de la Vie, she directed her two other texts: Mademoiselle Ari nue and Juke-Box et Almanach. Ceci est mon corps, based on La vie sexuelle de Catherine M by Catherine Millet, is one of her latest creations for the stage. She also wrote Le Bazar des organes for the Compagnie SKBL, touring all over France.

She is also the author of the novel Monsieur René, an imaginary biography of the Belgian actor René Hainaux, as well as Saisons culottes amis (Yvette’s Poems), published in 2010. In 2013, her short story Skaï was published as part of a collection of Belgian authors, Feuillton, and her novel Marilyn désossée was published in 2013. Find out more.

David Machado was one of the winners from the EUPL 2015 issue, namely from Portugal. The EUPL team spoke with David ahead of a culture event with other EUPL winners in Brussels, Belgium. 

David Machado was born in Lisbon in 1978. He has a degree in economics from ISEG, Lisbon's School of Economics and Management, but soon devoted himself to writing fiction and children's literature.

In 2005, he was awarded the Branquinho da Fonseca Prize for his children's book A Noite dos Animais Inventados and, in 2010, he was awarded the SPA/RTP Author Prize, in the category for Best Children and Youth book, for O Tubarão na Banheira.

He is the author of the short story collection Histórias Possíveis and the novels O Fabuloso Teatro do Gigante, Deixem Falar as Pedras and Índice Médio de Felicidade, as well as the children's books Os Quatro Comandantes da Cama Voadora, Um Homem Verde num Buraco Muito Fundo, A Mala Assombrada, Parece Um Pássaro and Acho Que Posso Ajudar. He has contributed work to the literary collections A Misteriosa Mulher da Ópera, Contos de Verão and O Segredo, and has published short stories in Portuguese and foreign newspapers and magazines.

Read more: https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/authors/david-machado.

Carolina Schutti was one of the winners from the EUPL 2015 issue, namely from Austria. The EUPL team spoke with Carolina ahead of a culture event with other EUPL winners in Brussels, Belgium. 

Carolina Schutti was born in 1976 in Innsbruck, where she still lives. She studied German philology, English and American Studies, concert guitar and classical voice. After several years of teaching and following her PhD on Elias Canetti, she taught at the University of Florence, followed by a post as a research assistant at Literaturhaus am Inn. From 2009-2013 she was a board member of Brenner Forum in Innsbruck as well as a member of the board of trustees of Brenner-Archiv. Her publications include essays on literary studies, literary reviews and other texts in literary magazines. She coordinates and moderates literary events and interdisciplinary projects, works as a juror, gives lectures on poetry and holds training seminars in the field of Neue Literatur.

Read more: https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/authors/carolina-schutti. 

Gabriela Babnik was one of the winners from the EUPL 2013 issue, namely from Slovenia. The EUPL team spoke with Gabriela ahead of a culture event with other EUPL winners in Brussels, Belgium. 

Gabriela Babnik was born in 1979 in Göppingen, Germany. She completed her studies in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana in 2005, where she also obtained her Master’s degree on the modern Nigerian novel in 2010. Since 2002, she has been regularly publishing literary criticism, interviews, commentary, reports and essays in literary-cultural magazines and supplements such as Literatura, Mentor, Ekran, Poetikon, Književni listi, Pogledi and others. Her first novel Koža iz bombaža (Cotton Skin, 2007) received the award for the Best Debut Novel at the Slovenian National Book Fair in 2007. Her second novel V visoki travi (In the Tall Grass, 2009) was shortlisted for the “Kresnik Award” for the best novel of the year in 2010. Her third novel, Sušna doba (Dry Season, 2012), was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature in 2013, and was translated into 13 languages. English translation of Dry season was nominated for International Dublin Literary award, and in 2016 listed amongst six best EU translated novels. Her novel Intimaley (Intimno, Beletrina, 2015) was shortlisted for the Kresnik Award. In spring 2019 her new nvel Three deaths is comming out. As a literary critic, she was honoured with the “Josip Stritar” Young Critics Award in 2013. She is also writing radio plays and short stories.

Read more: https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/authors/gabriela-babnik