Russian literary awards. Kursk Regional Scientific Library named after
LITERARY PRIZE WINNERS 2017
"YASNAYA POLYANA - 2017"
The jury of one of the largest Russian literary awards, Yasnaya Polyana, announced the list of laureates for 2017. They were the following authors:
Nomination “Modern Russian Prose” Andrey Rubanov (for the novel “Patriot”)
Nomination “Foreign Literature” Mario Vargas Llosa (for the novel “The Humble Hero”)
Nomination "Event" Children's book festival in Tula "LiteraTula" and its founder Irina Rocheva
Nomination "Readers' Choice" Oleg Ermakov (for the novel "Song of the Tungus")
"PULITZER PRIZE - 2017"
New York writer Colson Whitehead won the Pulitzer Prize. His novel “The Underground Railroad” was highly appreciated not only by critics, but also by ordinary readers: immediately after its publication in the States, the work became a bestseller. The Underground Railroad in America was a secret system for facilitating the escape of black slaves from plantations in the south of the country to its north, where there was a strong movement of public figures advocating the abolition of slavery. Whitehead's main character, the slave Cora, runs from her oppressive master along this very road, experiencing many terrible adventures and absurd situations along the way. "RUSSIAN BOOKER - 2017"
The Russian Booker Prize for 2017 was awarded to Alexandra Nikolaenko for her debut novel “Kill Bobrykin. The story of a murder." Nikolaenko is a Muscovite, an artist, a graduate of Stroganovka, a member of the Moscow Union of Artists, the daughter of a physicist, doctor of sciences from the Kurchatov Institute, and an artist. Her works are in private collections in France, Great Britain and Russia. This book will stand on a par with “School for Fools” by Sasha Sokolov and “Moscow - Petushki” by Venedikt Erofeev. And the point is not only in the amazing language in which it is written, but in the strength of the tragic tension on which it rests. Sincere, devoted, although not without a gap, love. Psychological violence quite definitely outlines the portrait of the blessed hero. “Those who are expected are late... But you don’t need yourself...,” said the mother.” “The hateful Bobrykin” is a small (not the main) tormentor at school and a girlfriend’s husband when the children grew up. Features of play and sleep, carefully selected series of enumerations. Before us is a kind of farce, caricature and subtle stylization with many literary intersections. It’s hard to call it prose. Inversions, “rhymed” meanings that bounce like a ball, return: the text is rhythmically organized and... static, instead of a single speech flow, forming arbitrary islands where the horror and magic of ordinary, simple things are revealed, varied, and transformed.
"BIG BOOK - 2017"
This year the ceremony was dedicated to the centenary of the revolution. The motto “All power goes to Russian literature” was chosen. The winner of the national literary award “Big Book” in 2017 was Lev Danilkin, the author of the book “Lenin. Pantocrator of solar motes." Lev Aleksandrovich Danilkin is a Russian journalist, literary critic and writer. Graduated from the Faculty of Philology and graduate school at Moscow State University. Member of the large (2001, 2002) and small (2003) jury of the National Bestseller Award. Presenter of the book column in Afisha magazine. Author of a fictional biography of Alexander Prokhanov, “The Man with an Egg,” and a book about Yuri Gagarin in the “Life of Remarkable People” series.
Lev Danilkin wrote a large, 780-page ethnographic book, “Lenin: Pantocrator of Solar Motes.” The fate of the main character - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin - is woven into the story of Russia at the end of the 19th, 20th and even 21st centuries. A sociologist studies those like himself, and an ethnographer studies those who cannot describe themselves. And Danilkin, for the Russians, for the entire multinational people, takes on this role of ethnographer - following Lenin.
Other heroes of the era rush alongside Lenin. They are not carefully painted by Danilkin, but rather like scenery in a play, against the background of which Lenin himself is shaded and looks deeper.
"GONCOURT PRIZE - 2017"
The winner of the Goncourt Prize was the French writer, screenwriter and film director Eric Vuillard, who was noted for his novel The Order of the Day. The author made his debut in 1999 with the story “The Hunter”; his works also include the script for the film by Philippe Grandrieu “New Life” and the historical novel about the conquest of Peru “The Conquistadors”.
"The Order of the Day" by 49-year-old Eric Vuyard takes the reader back to the days of Nazism in Germany. The narrative reconstructs episodes of the alliance between the Nazi regime and German industrialists. The author's historical knowledge and unexpected plot twists made critics recognize his book even before the award as "one of the most interesting novels of the season."
"BUNINSKAYA PRIZE - 2017"
Moscow Humanitarian University, together with the National Institute of Business, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the National Union of Non-State Universities, and the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, established the Bunin Prize, dedicated to the memory of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, an outstanding Russian poet and writer, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nobel laureate. This is the only non-state literary prize awarded annually to outstanding literary artists writing in Russian. The Board of Trustees, when establishing the Bunin Prize in 2004, was guided by the lofty goals of maintaining Russian literature and reviving the best traditions of Russian literature.
On October 24, 2017, a solemn ceremony took place in the conference hall of the Moscow Humanitarian University, at which the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bunin Prize, a member of the Union of Writers of Russia, the rector of the university, Professor Igor Mikhailovich Ilyinsky, together with members of the Jury, presented well-deserved prizes to the new laureates.
The laureates of the International Bunin Prize 2017 were:
Igor Volgin - for the book of poems “Personal Data” and a poetic cycle in the magazine “Znamya”. Volgin Igor Leonidovich was born in Molotov in 1942. He is a candidate of historical sciences and a doctor of philological sciences, an honorary member of such associations as the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and the International Society of F. M. Dostoevsky. As a professor, he gives numerous lectures at higher educational institutions, for example, at Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov at the Faculty of Journalism, as well as at the Literary Institute named after. A. M. Gorky. He published collections of poems “Ring Road” (1970), “Six in the Morning” (1975), “Personal Data” (2015).
Nikolai Zinoviev - for the books of poems “Wait for Sunday”, “In the Motherland”, “The Wall”.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Zinoviev was born in the small town of Korenovsk, Krasnodar Territory, in 1960. He is one of the strongest contemporary poets, a poet whose books always find their readers. This is explained by the fact that in his poems he acutely raises the problems of Russia and mourns the pain of his country. At the same time, in all his works he remains a faithful patriot.
Timur Zulfikarov - for the book of poems “Golden Letters of Love”. Timur Zulfikarov is a poet, prose writer and playwright who writes in Russian. Zulfikarov was born in Dushanbe in 1936. The author's main works have been translated into 12 languages. His novels about Khoja Nasreddin, Omar Khayyam, Ivan the Terrible, Amir Timur and a monumental narrative about the life and afterlife of a modern poet, “The Poet’s Earthly and Heavenly Wanderings,” became widely known. Zulfikarov is the author of 20 books of prose and poetry, the circulation of which exceeded a million copies. In 2009, the poet's collected works were published in seven volumes. Zulfikarov is also a laureate of the Yasnaya Polyana literary award, the Best Book of the Year award, and the Anton Delvig award.
O. Leonid (Safronov) - for the books of poems “The Forester’s Daughter”, “Holy Rus' is Hidden”, “A White Foal Walks”. Archpriest Leonid Safronov was born on October 19, 1955 in the village of Rudnichny, Verkhnekamsk district, Kirov region. He is the rector of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Rudnichny, Verkhnekamsk district, Kirov region. Father Leonid Safronov is a Russian poet. Author of thirteen poetry books, member of the Writers' Union since 1989; laureate of literary prizes from the magazines “Moscow” and “Our Contemporary”; winner of two All-Russian literary awards: named after Nikolai Zabolotsky (2005) and named after Alexander Nevsky (2010). L. Safronov's poetry is characterized by soulful lyricism, epic breadth of coverage of the history of the Fatherland, depth and scale of development of national themes. Children's poems occupy a significant place in his poetry, but religious themes, and more broadly, a religious view of the world, are decisive in his work.
"BOOKER - 2017"
The 2017 Booker Prize winner was American George Saunders for his novel “Lincoln in the Bardo.” The book chronicles the grief of 16th US President Abraham Lincoln as he deals with the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie. During the course of the story, Lincoln finds himself in an intermediate state, which in Buddhism is called "bardo", which gives the title to the novel. The writer’s works have not yet been published in Russian.
Saunders was born in 1958, graduated from Syracuse University in 1988 with a master's degree in creative writing, and is the recipient of many awards and honors. Since 1997, Saunders has taught at Syracuse University while publishing fiction and nonfiction.
Saunders's writing often focuses on the absurdity of consumerism and corporate culture, as well as the role of the media. Although many critics see a satirical tone in much of Saunders's work, he also raises questions of morality. Due to the tragicomic elements in his work, he has been compared to Kurt Vonnegut, whose works inspired Saunders.
"NOBEL PRIZE - 2017"
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to British-Japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro, author of contemporary fiction, for his work of great emotional power. Kazuo Ishiguro is an English writer of Japanese descent, author of the novels The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go and The Buried Giant, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Winner of the Booker Prize and Whitbreath Prize, graduate of the Malcolm Bradbury Literary Seminar. Almost all of Ishiguro's books are based on the technique of retrospective. The heroes look into their past, full of dramatic and tragic events that can no longer be corrected. Thus, in the work “Where the Hills Are in the Haze,” the emigrant Etsuko recalls her youth in post-war Nagasaki, trying to escape from the present, in which her daughter committed suicide. Detective Christopher Banks from When We Were Orphans uses all his skill to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance twenty years ago. And in the dystopia “Never Let Me Go,” clone Katie S. recalls the story of her entire short life, which was destined to end on the operating table for the sake of organ donation.
"INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE - 2017"
The 2017 International Booker Literary Prize was awarded to Israeli writer David Grossman for his novel A Horse Walks into a Bar. The novel was written in Hebrew and translated into English by Jessica Cohen. Author about the novel:
“In this book, I talk about a child, Doval, who later became a stand-up comedian. At the age of 14, he went outside his home for the first time in his life - he was sent to a semi-military youth camp. One day, when he was in the field training, a woman in military uniform came up and asked, “Who is Dovale here?” He replied: “It’s me.” “Come with me, come on faster, faster! You need to be in Jerusalem at 4 o’clock for the funeral.” Dovale was shocked. He did not ask and no one said who died. Who? Mother or father? Several long hours spent in the car caused him a very serious injury and influenced his future fate. Sometimes I think the most insidious form of cruelty is indifference.”
David Grossman is a bestselling author of fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature, and his works have been translated into 36 languages. He has been awarded numerous international awards, including the French "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres", the German "the Buxtehuder Bulle", the Roman "Premio per la Pace e l'Azione Umanitaria", the Frankfurt Peace Prize and the Israeli " Emet Prize.
"A. SOLZHENITSYN PRIZE - 2017"
The Alexander Solzhenitsyn Literary Prize in 2017 was awarded to Vladimir Petrovich Enisherlov with the wording “for thirty years of leadership of the magazine “Our Heritage” from the date of its foundation; for the enormous cultural and educational work in searching for and publishing forgotten works of Russian literature and philosophical thought; for high-quality expert efforts in the rescue and preservation of museums, historical, architectural and natural monuments.” Vladimir Enisherlov - literary scholar, writer, literary critic, was born on December 26, 1940 in Moscow. Graduated from the Literary Institute named after. A. M. Gorky and graduate school at the Literary Institute. Candidate of Philological Sciences, dissertation topic “Alexander Blok - literary critic (1902-1918).” He headed the literature and art department at the Ogonyok magazine.
In 1987, he received an offer from D.S. Likhachev to join the newly created Cultural Foundation and become the editor-in-chief of the Foundation’s historical and cultural magazine, “Our Heritage.” During the years of his leadership, the magazine published 119 issues. Published materials by philosophers and writers, artists and musicians, researchers of painting, architecture, ancient art, dramatic theater, ballet, cinema, and in printing of the highest level. Readers were presented with previously unknown texts and materials from the archives of A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, A. Griboedov, A. Blok, A. Bely, Z. Gippius, M. Tsvetaeva, materials from the heritage of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, V. Solovyov, S. Bulgakov, N. Berdyaev, P. Florensky, G. Fedotov.
"NATIONAL BESTSELLER - 2017"
The winner of the literary award “National Bestseller - 2017” was the author of the novel “F20”, Moscow prose writer Anna Kozlova. The book is written in the genre of a film novel, in which the author tries to understand the inner world of a schizophrenic teenager and tell how he interacts with the real world.
This is Anna Kozlova’s sixth book and the first major work after a six-year creative break.
"LYCEUM - 2017"
In Russia, a new literary prize “Lyceum” named after Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin has been created for young writers and poets. On February 27, 2017, the acceptance of works for the new literary prize "Lyceum" named after Alexander Pushkin for young writers and poets began. The purpose of the prize is to find and encourage emerging talented Russian writers and poets who can make a significant contribution to the preservation and development of world fiction.
Authors between the ages of 15 and 35 can apply for the prize.
The Lyceum Award will be held annually. Both authors and regional book publishing houses and the media can nominate works.
Prize winners are determined in two categories - poetry and prose, in each of which three prizes are awarded. The prize winners will be named by a jury chaired by Pavel Basinsky on A.S.’s birthday. Pushkin June 6, 2017.
The short list, announced on May 16, in the “Poetry” nomination included Kursk residents: Andrey Boldyrev and Vladimir Kosogov.
Andrey Vladimirovich Boldyrev was born in 1984 in Kursk. Published in the magazines “Siberian Lights”, “Emigrant Lyre”, “Ring “A””, “Prologue”, in the almanacs “LAK”, “Ilya”, in the collections “New Writers”, “Plank”. Participant of the V and VI forums of young writers of Russia. Grand Prix "Ilya Prize" (2006), laureate of the I Annual International Literary Competition "Manifestation", diploma winner of the X International Voloshin Competition (2012), shortlist of the XI International Voloshin Competition (2013). Lives in Kursk.
Vladimir Nikolaevich Kosogov was born in 1986 in Zheleznogorsk. Graduated from the philological department of Kursk State University. Works as editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" in Kursk.
He has been writing poetry since he was 18 years old. Published in the almanac “Slavic Bells”, in the collection “Autograph”, in the magazine “LAK”.
Author of the book “According to the Word of Sadness.” Winner of the Manifestation Award.
Member of the Kursk Union of Writers. Lives in Kursk.
"PLATON PRIZE - 2017"
Writer Alexey Ivanov became a laureate of the Platonov Prize, which is awarded at a festival in Voronezh in memory of the writer Andrei Platonov. The award was awarded to him “for the discovery of the hidden secrets of national history,” the founder of the award, the government of the Voronezh region, said in a statement. The award presentation will take place during the International Platonov Arts Festival. The Platonov Prize was established in 2011 and is awarded annually to literary and artistic figures. The first laureate of the prize in 2011 was the prose writer and publicist Boris Ekimov. In addition to him, this prize was received in different years by: artistic director of the Theater of Europe Lev Dodin, pianist, composer, conductor Mikhail Pletnev, animator Alexander Petrov - writer Andrei Bitov, director Alexander Sokurov.
Alexey Ivanov is the author of the novels “The Geographer Drank His Globe Away”, “The Heart of Parma”, as well as a number of film scripts.
“The works of Alexey Ivanov are included in the program on modern literature for universities. More than a hundred scientific papers and five dissertations have been written based on his works. The novels have been translated into Serbian, Dutch, French and Chinese,” the regional government said in a statement.
Last year, Alexey Ivanov won the Book of the Year award in the Prose of the Year category for his novel Bad Weather. In 2017, the book “Bad Weather” received the Russian Government Prize in the field of culture. The same work was included in the list of 11 finalists of the “Big Book”. “Lenin. Pantocrator of solar motes".
Lev Danilkin is a Russian journalist, literary critic and writer. Graduated from the Faculty of Philology and graduate school at Moscow State University. Author of a fictional biography of Alexander Prokhanov, “The Man with an Egg,” and a book about Yuri Gagarin in the “Life of Remarkable People” series.
To write a new biography of the leader of the Russian revolution, literary critic Lev Danilkin studied a considerable number of serious sources. However, this did not turn the book into a dreary biography. Vladimir Ilyich turned out to be a lively person, with his own passions and difficult character, who loves to ride a bicycle, travel and joke.
Second Prize - Sergey Shargunov “Kataev: “The Pursuit of Eternal Spring”. Russian writer, journalist, public and political figure, radio and television presenter. Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VII convocation since October 5, 2016. Elected as part of the federal list of candidates nominated by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
The book presents the first detailed biography of the outstanding prose writer and poet, subtle master of words Valentin Petrovich Kataev (1897–1986), devoid of ideological bias. Few people know that the writer came from an old priestly family; among his close relatives were new martyred archbishops. Hero of Socialist Labor Kataev was at one time a white officer, a student of Bunin, and sat in the execution basement of the Odessa gubchek...
The writer Sergei Shargunov, relying on memories, archival documents, memoirs and biographical literature, brilliantly managed to recreate the difficult, partly mysterious, life of Valentin Kataev, closely intertwined with literary creativity, a complex and contradictory person deeply involved in the historical events of the 20th century.
A two-volume work by a literary critic, librarian and cultural scientist was awarded a special diploma Ekaterina Genieva"Favorites", which includes her works on English and Irish literature, articles, memoirs, lectures and interviews.
Literary Prize "Yasnaya Polyana"
In 2017, the short list for the “Modern Russian Prose” nomination included:
1. Ksenia Dragunskaya"Kolokolnikov - Podkolokolny". The story of Soviet youth and 
today's maturity begins between two Moscow lanes - Kolokolnikov and Podkolokolny. While the characters rush between youthful love and a midlife crisis, between loyalty to childhood friendship and the ability to be a real adult, between the collapse of illusions and hope for a new turn in life, the reader becomes nostalgic for the elusive Moscow and makes his own movie in its cozy alleys.
2. Oleg Ermakov "Song of the Tungus".
3. Vladimir Medvedev "Zahhok".
4. Mikhail Popov "On the rising chairs".
The novel by Mikhail Popov tells about the life of the provincial village of Porkhnevichi, lost in the Nalibokskaya Pushcha, from 1908 to 1944. Three generations of villagers experience wars, revolutions, occupation, and life goes on as usual - families are created and broken up, children are born, old people die. “On the rising hills” is love and betrayal, crimes and exploits, which are often difficult to even distinguish from each other. One of the heroes, trying to save Porkhnevichi, becomes the commander of a partisan detachment in order to be able to take care of his own. The other is the surviving count's son, stolen from the estate in 1918, a looter and scoundrel, who joins the detachment, hiding from military justice. At a decisive moment in the Belarusian Pushcha, the Home Army partisans, the German punitive battalion, the Porchniewicz partisans collide... and the young “count” becomes the main character.
5. Andrey Rubanov "Patriot".
6. German Sadulaev "Ivan Auslander".
The main character Sadulaev is far from politics 
The reader meets university teacher and Sanskrit specialist Ivan Auslender in St. Petersburg at a rally “for fair elections.” So the subtitle “Prose of Our Time” justifies itself from the very beginning. Vaguely similar to the hero of Houellebecq’s “Humility”, whom Sadulaev periodically mentions in the novel, Ivan Borisovich Auslander, an average teacher, devoid of a bright individuality, by an absurd coincidence becomes an active participant in the protest movement. He will have time to become disillusioned with politics, make an almost Onegin-like journey through Europe, discover himself practically a guru of a spontaneously formed sect, and write a text “on palm leaves.” A weak-willed man in the street from a university environment will give German Sadulayev the opportunity to play a postmodern game with the reader, rethink news reports, look at modernity without any illusions - after which he will disappear without a trace, without causing regret. “Ivan Auslander” is a journalistic vaccine implicated in literary play and sarcasm and generously diluted with Buddhism against dangerous fascination, no matter with politics or religious philosophy.
Today Leila Budaeva sums up the literary results of the past year: talks about the five main book awards of our time and shares a list of winning novels and shortlisted works. You can start making your reading list for next year now!
Booker Prize
It was founded in 1969, but until 2014 only writers from Great Britain, Ireland and the British Commonwealth could apply for it. Now a novel from any country can be nominated for a prize, as long as it is written in English.
This year's winner was “Lincoln in the Bardo” by American George Saunders. The book takes place over the course of one evening and touches on a real event - the death of 11-year-old William, the son of US President Abraham Lincoln in February 1862. The boy finds himself in the bardo - a kind of intermediate state described in Buddhism as the interval between death and the separation of mind and body. According to Saunders, the inhabitants of the bardo are "disfigured by desires that they did not fulfill while they were alive." Wanting to get out of this trap, William tries to communicate with his father.
“4 3 2 1”, Paul Auster (USA)- the novel takes place in the second half of the twentieth century and tells the story of four versions of the life of a boy named Archibald Ferguson, developing parallel to each other. Each of them speaks in its own way about his studies, growing up and relationships.
"The Story of Wolves", Emily Fridlund (USA) is the debut novel by a famous novelist, telling the story of a fourteen-year-old girl Madeline. She lives with her parents in the wilderness of northern Minnesota, acutely feeling loneliness and isolation from the world.
"Exit to the West", Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan)- the novel touches on the themes of emigration and refugee problems. The plot follows the story of a young couple, Said and Nadia, who find themselves in the middle of a civil war in an unnamed country.
"Elmet", Fiona Moseley (UK)- another debut novel on the award shortlist. Brother and sister Daniel and Katie live with their father in the village of Elmet: they walk along the moors, raise cattle, and sincerely care about each other. The idyll continues until the family begins to be threatened...
"Autumn", Ali Smith (UK)- 101-year-old Daniel ends his days in a nursing home, where 30-year-old Elizabeth regularly visits him. Between them, despite the colossal age difference, a truly warm relationship developed. The novel takes place in the fall of 2016, after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, and, as the Man Booker Prize jury put it, is “a meditation on a changing world.”
Prix Goncourt
The French award for achievements in the novel genre has been awarded annually since 1903. According to the charter, its laureate can only be won once. The only exception is the writer Romain Gary. He received the prize for the first time in 1956, and 19 years later he received it again under the name Emile Azhar.
This year's winning novel was The Order of the Day by Eric Vuillard. The plot is based on real events and takes place in Nazi Germany. The book tells the story of the formation of the Nazi regime in alliance with prominent German industrialists.
The award shortlist also included:
"Bakhita", Véronique Olmi- the main rival of the winning novel, the plot of which is also based on real events. This is the story of a girl born in western Sudan in the mid-19th century. Kidnapped by slave traders at the age of seven, she passes from one owner to another until she is redeemed by the Italian consul. In Italy she is placed in a convent, after which she expresses a desire to be baptized...
"Hold Your Crown Tight" by Yannick Haenel- a certain writer created a useless script for a film about Herman Melville (author of the famous “Moby Dick”). In New York, he meets a famous director who is interested in his manuscript, after which a time of adventure begins in the hero’s life.
"The Art of Losing" by Alice Zenite- a novel about a girl from a Kabyle family who came to France from the north of Algeria. The book tells the story of the fate of several generations of refugees left in captivity of the past, as well as the right to be yourself - without taking into account anyone else's ideas about who you should become.
Pulitzer Prize
Established in the USA in 1903 and awarded for achievements in the fields of literature, journalism, music and theater. An interesting fact is that many award-winning books have never made the bestseller lists (exceptions include John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, which I discuss in a post on American literature), and most award-winning plays have never was not staged on Broadway theatres.
The winner of the award for fiction was The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. The book takes place on the eve of the Civil War. The dark-skinned slave Cora decides to escape and ends up on a secret route system - an underground railroad, through which slaves were moved from the southern (slave-holding) states to the north. Whitehead emotionally recounts important milestones in the history of American slavery and subsequent segregation - the forced separation of the population along racial lines.
The nominees also included:
"Imagine Me Gone", Adam Haslett- a story about how difficult relationships within a family develop after a depressed father of three children commits suicide.
"The Sport of Kings", C.E. Morgan- The plot takes place in the American South. Ambitious Henry, a representative of one of the oldest families in Kentucky, decides to turn his family lands into a stud farm for breeding thoroughbred horses - future race winners.
Russian booker
The prize was established in 1992 on the initiative of the British Council in Russia as a project similar to the British Booker Prize. Awarded for the best novel published during the year.
The 2017 novel winner was Alexandra Nikolaenko’s book “Kill Bobrykin: the story of a murder.” 200 pages of text tell what is going on in the soul of the impressionable Sasha: day after day he is nostalgic for the times when he was in love with his classmate Tanya. Now she is married to Sasha’s neighbor, Bobrykin. To the hero he seems to be a personal demon, some kind of evil that has been haunting him since childhood - for this reason he is going to kill him.
The award shortlist also included:
“The Secret Year”, Mikhail Gigolashvili- the novel describes two weeks in the life of Ivan the Terrible during that strange period of Russian history when he left the throne to Simeon Bekbulatovich and secluded himself in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda for a year. The book, with elements of phantasmagoria, paints a psychological portrait of the king, his vulnerable, painful subconscious.
“Golomyanoe Flame”, Dmitry Novikov- a story declaring love to the harsh Russian North. The writer builds a bridge from the present day to the distant past, sincerely admires the beauty and richness of nature and talks about the spiritual component of modern life.
"Zahhok", Vladimir Medvedev- the book tells the story of a Russian teacher, Vera, who was unwillingly left with her children in Tajikistan during the civil war in the early 1990s. A polyphonic novel, written from the perspective of several characters, allows you to view events from several angles.
“Date with Quasimodo”, Alexander Melikhov- Dozens of murderers pass through the office of criminal psychologist Yulia, whose fate depends on her decision to consider them sane or not. What makes them break the law? The subject of reflection in this philosophical novel is the phenomenon of beauty.
“Nomakh. Sparks from a big fire”, Igor Malyshev- another novel on the theme of the civil war. Nomakh (the main character) exactly follows the path of Nestor Makhno, an anarcho-communist and leader of the rebel movement in southern Ukraine in 1918-1922.
Nobel Prize
Unlike other prizes, the Nobel Prize does not have an official list of finalists. We will learn about those who competed for the main literary prize of the world this year only half a century later, when the archives are published. The award was given to the British writer of Japanese origin Kazuo Ishiguro, who “in his novels of incredible emotional power reveals the abyss hidden behind our illusory sense of connection with the world” - this was the formulation voiced by the Nobel Committee.
The beauty is that most of Ishiguro’s prose has been translated into Russian, and the cult “The Remains of the Day” and “Never Let Me Go” have been filmed. “At the End of the Day” (under this title the film was released in Russia) was nominated for eight Oscars, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. The less successful film Never Let Me Go starred Charlotte Rampling, Keira Knightley and young Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield.
Premium lists of fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry and children's literature of 2017.
BIG BOOK
Prize for the best long-form prose work published in the reporting year. One of the main and prestigious literary awards of modern Russia. Established in 2005 by the Center for Support of Russian Literature.
First Prize - Lev Danilkin “Lenin. Pantocrator of solar motes";
Second Prize - Sergei Shargunov “Kataev: “The Pursuit of Eternal Spring”;
Third prize - Shamil Idiatullin “City of Brezhnev”.
YASNAYA POLYANA
Established in 2003 by the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana” and Samsung Electronics.
Nomination “Modern Russian Prose” - Andrey Rubanov “Patriot”.
Nomination “Foreign Literature” - Mario Vargas Llosa “The Humble Hero”.
RUSSIAN BOOKER
The Russian Booker Prize was founded in 1992 by the British trading company Booker, modeled on the English Booker Prize, and became the first independent literary prize in Russia with a substantial monetary component.
Alexandra Nikolaenko “Kill Bobrykin. The story of a murder."
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Prize for a prose work that, in the jury’s opinion, has under-realized potential as an “intellectual bestseller.” Established in 2001.
Anna Kozlova "F20".
ANDREY BELY AWARD
The Andrei Bely Prize was established in 1978 and became the first independent literary award in Russia. In post-Soviet conditions, the Andrei Bely Prize takes into account the priorities of aesthetic innovation and experimentation in the real literary process. The material content of the prize is one ruble, as well as a bottle of vodka and an apple.
Nomination "Prose" - Victor Pelevin "iPhuck 10".
Nomination "Poetry" - Stanislav Lvovsky "Poems from a book."
LYCEUM
The Lyceum Prize named after Alexander Pushkin for young prose writers and poets aged 15 to 35 years was established in February 2017. On June 6, 2017, the first laureates were awarded on Red Square.
Nomination "Prose":
1st place - Christina Hepting “Plus Life”;
2nd place - Evgenia Nekrasova “Unhappy Moscow”;
3rd place - Andrey Grachev “A little about the family.”
Nomination "Poetry":
1st place - Vladimir Kosogov;
2nd place - Dana Kurskaya;
3rd place - Grigory Medvedev.
POET
The annual Poet Prize was established in 2005 by the Society for the Promotion of Russian Poetry together with RAO UES of Russia. The charter of the prize prohibits awarding it twice to the same person, as well as posthumous awarding and dividing the prize among several participants.
Maxim Amelin
ENLIGHTENER
Prize for the best popular science books in Russian.
Nomination “Natural and Exact Sciences” - Daria Varlamova and Anton Zainiev “It’s crazy! A Guide to Mental Disorders for a Big City Resident.”
Nomination “Humanities” - Alexander Piperski “Construction of languages. From Esperanto to Dothraki" and a team of authors - Alena Kozlova, Nikolai Mikhailov, Irina Ostrovskaya and Irina Shcherbakova "The sign will not be erased. The fates of ostarbeiters in letters, memoirs and oral stories.”
BOOK
The All-Russian competition for the best work for children and youth “Kniguru” has been held by the Non-Profit Partnership “Center for the Support of Russian Literature” since 2010. “Kniguru” is the only Russian literary competition in which winners are chosen by teenagers from ten to seventeen years old.
1st place - Liliya Volkova “Under the constellation of Stray Dogs”;
2nd place - Antonina Malysheva “Cat of Oblivion”;
3rd place - Stanislav Vostokov “Brother-Yunnat”.
NOBEL PRIZE
The most prestigious award in the world. The award is currently 9 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1.1 million).
Kazuo Ishiguro
BOOKER PRIZE
The Booker Prize was established in 1968. Since 2014, any English-language writer whose books are published in the United Kingdom can apply for it. Previously, the award was only available to authors from the UK, Ireland and the British Commonwealth.
George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo.
INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
The International Booker Prize was established in 2005. Awarded every two years to foreign writers whose books have been translated into English.
David Grossman, A Horse Walks Into a Bar.
GONCOURT PRIZE
The most prestigious literary award in France. Awarded annually since 1903. At the same time, the size of the bonus is symbolic (currently it is only 10 euros).
Eric Vuillard "The Order of the Day" (L'ordre du jour).
The first literary prize "Quick Liter"
The most unprestigious literary award, but also very pleasant. Awarded irregularly since 2017. The main difference between the award is the duration: one week. At the same time, the size of the prize is symbolic (currently it is only 1000 rubles + sponsor prizes). In total, 20 authors with 29 works took part in the award. Any works of art of “small” form – stories, novellas, poems, etc. – were accepted to participate in the prize.
