European Union Prize for Literature 2012

The winners of the 2012 European Union Prize for Literature, which recognises the best new or emerging authors in Europe, were announced  on 9 October 2012 at the Frankfurt Book Fair by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

The annual prize is one of the ways the EU supports authors, such as by investing around €3m each year on translating some of Europe’s best literary works, making them accessible to more readers and helping writers expand their audience.

The 2012 winners are:

• Anna Kim (Austria) for her book ‘Die gefrorene Zeit‘ (Frozen Time), about a researcher helping a man from Kosovo

• Lada Žigo (Croatia) for ‘Rulet’ (Roulette), a novel on gambling

• Laurence Plazenet (France) for ‘L’amour seul’ (Love Alone), a story about secret lovers who are separated

• Viktor Horváth (Hungary) for ‘Török tükör’ (Turkish Mirror), takes readers on an adventurous journey back to 16th century Hungary

• Kevin Barry (Ireland) for ‘City of Bohane’, set 40 years in the future in a once-great city on the west coast of Ireland

• Emanuele Trevi (Italy) for ‘Qualcosa di scritto’ (Something Written), a tale of a writer who finds work in an archive

• Giedra Radvilavičiūtė (pseudonym for Giedra Subačienė, Lithuania) for ‘Šiąnakt aš miegosiu prie sienos’ (Tonight I Shall Sleep by the Wall), a collection of short stories

• Gunstein Bakke (Norway) for ‘Maud og Aud: ein roman om trafikk’ (Maud and Aud: A Novel on Traffic), about a family devastated by a car accident

• Piotr Paziński (Poland) for ‘Pensjonat’ (Boarding House), describing a boarding house whose residents are Holocaust survivors

• Afonso Cruz (Portugal) for ‘A Boneca de Kokoschka’ (Kokoschka’s Doll), a story of friendship and identity

• Jana Beňová (Slovakia) for ‘Café Hyena (Plán odprevádzania)’ (Café Hyena (Seeing People Off), short stories and observations on a young woman’s relationship with an ageing man

• Sara Mannheimer (Sweden) for ‘Handlingen’ (The Action), about a woman’s desire to conquer all literature.

Read more on the European Commission’s culture activities

The European Documentation Centre’s holdings on culture and education are in various languages including English, French, and Italian and can be found on the shelves on the upper floor of the library at EDC EC-MP-33, EDC EC-MP-66 and EDC EC-MP-99.