It seems odd thinking about literary prizes and awards at the moment, since awards conjure up images of presentations, speeches and joy. But many, many people have turned to reading for comfort and intellectual stimulation during the recurrent lockdowns. The giving and receiving of literary awards remains, as ever, important to readers and encouraging to authors. In Italy, despite a very difficult year, the major literary prizes were adjudicated and the following awards were made: Continue reading “Italian literary prizewinners 2020”
Tag: literary prizes
French-speaking literary prizewinners 2018-2019
Each year, Cambridge University Library acquires French and Francophone books that have won important literary prizes, usually awarded in the autumn, after the “rentrée littéraire”. While the books which have been awarded literary distinctions in 2020 are on order, here are the 2018 and 2019 prizewinners in the French-speaking world:
Comar d’Or: 2018: Les lendemains d’hier : 
roman by Ali Bécheur C205.d.3961; 2019: Jugurtha: un contre-portrait by Rafik Darragi C206.d.4272
Grand prix du roman de l’Académie française: 2018: L’été des quatre rois : juillet-août 1830 : roman by Camille Pascal C206.d.4319; 2019: Civilizations : roman by Laurent Binet C206.d.2438
Grand Prix du Roman Métis: 2018: Des ailes au loin : roman by Jadd Hilal C206.d.4269; 2019: Salina : les trois exils : roman by Laurent Gaudé C215.c.5760
Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde: 2018 Là où les chiens aboient par la queue by Estelle-Sarah Bulle C206.d.4347; (no 2019 winner) Continue reading “French-speaking literary prizewinners 2018-2019”
German prizewinners 2020
German literary life is supported and stimulated by numerous prizes which help authors in their pursuit of a literary career. Each October two of the most prominent prizes are awarded, namely the Deutsche Buchpreis and the Georg Büchner Preis.
The Deutsche Buchpreis is sponsored by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and awarded at the beginning of the Frankfurt Book Fair. This year’s winner was Anne Weber for her book Annette, ein Heldinnenepos. In this remarkable book Anne Weber tells the story of the French resistance fighter Anne Beaumanoir using the form of an epic poem. This brief video introduces the author and her book.
Anne Weber is well known for her literary experiments and has published several works of fiction. However, literary critics in Germany have agreed that Annette, ein Heldinnenepos is her best work so far and a worthy winner of the Deutsche Buchpreis. In particular the critics pointed out that the unusual literary form of epic poem was well used for telling the story of Anne Beaumanoir. For a summary of the reviews see Perlentaucher.
Italian literary prizewinners for 2019-2020
With the awarding of the Bagutta prize for 2020 at the end of January, I was reminded of our annual focus on the major literary prizes of Italy. The Bagutta prize this year went to Enrico Deaglio for his work on the bombing in Piazza Fontana, Milan, in 1969. La Bomba : cinquant’anni di Piazza Fontana, published by Feltrinelli, was written to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the terrorist attack. It is now in the catalogue and stands at C215.c.8782.
Since our post last April, the other major Italian literary prizes have been awarded as follows: Continue reading “Italian literary prizewinners for 2019-2020”
75 years of Premio Nadal
The Premio Nadal is the oldest literary prize in Spain, awarded by Ediciones Destino (since 1988 part of Planeta group) to the best unpublished novel. We can find many important 20th century Spanish writers among their list of awardees. Four of them have won the Cervantes prize as well (see our post on Premio Cervantes).
The prize is awarded every year on January 6. It was originally the idea of the journalist Ignacio Agustí, editor of the magazine Destino (belonging to the same publishing house) and best known for Mariona Rebull (743:01.d.17.285). The prize was created in order to discover new talent and provide a stimulus for literary creation in the post-war years. It was named after Eugenio Nadal, former editor of Destino, to honour the literature teacher who had then recently passed away at a young age.
The prize was first given in 1944 to Nada (744:35.d.95.359), an existentialist novel by the young Carmen Laforet. Three years later, it was awarded to Miguel Delibes for La sombra del ciprés es alargada (744:35.d.95.300); he is a major figure in Spanish literature of the 20th century, who won the Cervantes prize in 1993. Continue reading “75 years of Premio Nadal”
Italian literary prizewinners for 2018-19
We highlighted last autumn the winner of the prestigious Strega prize, one of the most important literary prizes awarded in Italy. It was won for the first time in 15 years by a woman – Helena Janeczek for her novel La ragazza con la Laica (C213.c.6240).
The other four major literary prizes that we focus on were awarded in the last 12 months as follows: Continue reading “Italian literary prizewinners for 2018-19”
Literary translations in the library tower
The UL’s Tall Tales exhibition has opened up to public view some of the treasures held in the seventeen floors of the library tower. One of the cases, to which I contributed, concentrates on literary prizewinners, a topic with which regular readers of this blog will be familiar. When selecting items to go on display, the challenge was to pick half a dozen titles that could somehow reflect the astonishing diversity of material to be found in the tower collections: the serious and the intellectual sit alongside works that are altogether less highbrow. Similarly, the range of literary prizes that are out there to be won is mind-boggling: could I include the Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards? (There are eight categories each year.) The Waverton Good Read Award, handed out annually by the residents of Waverton (a village in Cheshire) to the best debut novel published in the past twelve months? (It was set up in 2003, inspired by Le Prix de la Cadière, a similar prize given out by the Provençal town of La Cadière D’Azur.) The Bad Sex in Fiction Award? (It goes to some unlikely recipients: in 2016, it was awarded to the Italian novelist Erri De Luca, for his novel The Day Before Happiness (Il giorno prima della felicità). A less illustrious prize, perhaps, than the others he has collected during his career, which include the Prix Fémina Étranger.) Continue reading “Literary translations in the library tower”
Princess of Asturias award: Fred Vargas
Fred Vargas (pseudonym of Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau) has recently been awarded the Princess of Asturias award in its literary category. Cambridge Professor of Classics, Mary Beard, received the corresponding award for Social sciences in 2016.
Although Fred Vargas is a historian and archaeologist, she is also known for being a successful crime novel writer. In fact, she started writing thrillers for fun, as an escape from her academic occupation. Her novelist career began with the publication of Les jeux de l’amour et de la mort (C205.d.7969) which won the Festival de Cognac novel prize. Continue reading “Princess of Asturias award: Fred Vargas”
Québécois literature and the first London edition of “Festival America”
The French collections at Cambridge University Library aim to capture a broad range of Francophone literature. Though quite a few Francophone writers have contracts with French publishing houses, we also buy publications from North Africa, the Caribbean, and Québec (readers’ recommendations for Cambridge University library, especially for Francophone material, are always welcome).
Continue reading “Québécois literature and the first London edition of “Festival America””
Strega prize 2018 – goes to a woman, for the first time in 15 years
In July the most prestigious of the Italian literary prizes was won by Helena Janeczek, for her work La ragazza con la Leica (C213.c.6240). Although many female authors have been nominated for the prize in the past, there has not been a female winner since Melania Mazzucco in 2003. La ragazza con la Leica is about Gerda Taro, a war photographer who died during the Spanish Civil war, and it had already won the Bagutta prize earlier this year. Continue reading “Strega prize 2018 – goes to a woman, for the first time in 15 years”
Languages across Borders 