European Book Prize

European Book Prize
Awarded forpromoting European values, and contributing to European citizens' better understanding of the European Union as a cultural entity
Location European Union
Presented byEsprit d'Europe
Reward(s)€10,000
First awarded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Currently held byRobert Menasse for Die Erweiterung (2023)
Websitelivre-europeen.eu

The European Book Prize (French: Le Prix du Livre Européen) is a European Union literary award established in 2007. It is organized by the association Esprit d'Europe in Paris. It seeks to promote European values, and to contribute to European citizens' better understanding of the European Union as a cultural entity.

Eligible books must have been published in one of the 27 European Union (EU) member-states in the preceding year, in the original language or a translation. Works are submitted in one of two categories: essai (which in French means, something broader than the English "essay") and romans et récits ("novels and narratives").[1] A long list is drawn up by the organizers in Paris; the number varies but for example, in 2011, there were 50 essais plus 47 romans et recits.[1] These are then sent to a "sponsorship committee" which narrows it down to about a seven title shortlist, which are then given to a new committee of judges, composed of journalists and authors.[1]

The European Book Prize was founded by France Rouqe, Luce Perrot and François-Xavier Priollaud. The prize is worth 10,000 euros to each winner. The first two years saw only one winner who received 20,000 euros.

Winners

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The inaugural European Book Prize was awarded to Belgium's prime minister Guy Verhofstadt for United States of Europe. The ceremony was held at the European Parliament in Brussels on 5 December 2007.

Swedish crime fiction writer Henning Mankell handed the prize to the winner. While giving the prize, Mankell said that the jury was sensitive to the political courage showed by the current prime minister of Belgium. He added that in a Europe which has a lot of self-doubt, which has a lot of questions about its own future, Guy Verhofstadt offered a clear proposal for the future. He gave reasons to believe in European constitution.

While receiving the reward, Verhofstadt said, "When I wrote this book, I in fact meant it as a provocation against all those who didn't want the European Constitution. Fortunately, in the end a solution was found with the treaty, that was approved."[2]

Year Category English title Original title Author Nationality Ref(s)
2007 Essay United States of Europe De Verenigde Staten van Europa: manifest voor een nieuw Europa Guy Verhofstadt  Belgium
2008 Essay Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 Tony Judt  United Kingdom
2009 Novel Gottland Gottland Mariusz Szczygieł  Poland
Essay Europe for Dummies L'Europe pour les Nuls Sylvie Goulard  France
2010 Novel Purge Puhdistus Sofi Oksanen  Finland
Essay Beauty and the Inferno La bellezza e l'inferno Roberto Saviano  Italy
2011 Novel Red Love: The Story of an East German Family Haltet euer Herz bereit: eine ostdeutsche Familiengeschichte Maxim Leo  Germany [1]
Essay The Crime and the Silence My z Jedwabnego Anna Bikont  Poland [1]
2012 Novel Madonna on the moon Wie die Madonna auf den Mond kam Rolf Bauerdick  Germany
Essay Europe’s passage De passage naar Europa. Geschiedenis van een begin Luuk van Middelaar  Netherlands
2013 Novel An Englishman in Madrid Riña de gatos Eduardo Mendoza  Spain [3]
Essay The French, gravediggers of the euro Ces Français, fossoyeurs de l’euro Arnaud Leparmentier  France [3]
2014 Novel Hannah's Dress La robe de Hannah: Berlin 1904–2014 Pascale Hugues  France [4]
Essay Turbulent and Mighty Continent Anthony Giddens  United Kingdom
2015 Novel Vera Jean-Pierre Orban  Belgium [5]
Essay Enraged Citizens, European Peace and Democratic Deficits Der Europäische Landbote: Die Wut der Bürger und der Friede Europas Robert Menasse  Austria
2016 Novel The Impostor El impostor Javier Cercas  Spain
Essay Il più e il meno Erri De Luca  Italy
2017 Novel Zink David Van Reybrouck  Belgium [6]
Essay Come la democrazia fallisce Raffaele Simone [it]  Italy
2018 Novel Those Who Forget Les Amnésiques Géraldine Schwarz  Germany
Essay Orbán: Europe's New Strongman Paul Lendvai  Austria
Jury prize East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Philippe Sands  United Kingdom
2019 Novel Middle England Jonathan Coe  United Kingdom
Essay Nous l’Europe, banquet des peuples Laurent Gaudé  France
2020 Novel It Happened on the First of September (or Some Other Time) Stalo sa prvého septembra (alebo inokedy) Pavol Rankov  Slovakia
Jury prize Border. A Journey to the Edge of Europe Kapka Kassabova  Bulgaria
2021 Novel Niki Νίκη Christos Chomenidis  Greece
2022 Novel M. L'uomo della provvidenza Antonio Scurati  Italy
2023 Novel Die Erweiterung Robert Menasse  Austria

Winners by country

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Country Laureates
 France 4
 Italy 4
 United Kingdom 4
 Austria* 3
 Belgium 3
 Germany 3
 Spain 2
 Poland 2
 Bulgaria 1
 Finland 1
 Greece 1
 Netherlands 1
 Slovakia 1
  • In 2023, Robert Menasse became the first laureate to be awarded the prize for two different books (in 2015 and 2023)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Julian Barnes. "Judging the European Book prize for 2011", The Guardian, 16 December 2011
  2. ^ "EuroNews TV Report of 5 December 2007". Euronews.net. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b "European Book Prize: promoting European values". 5 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  4. ^ "British Lord wins European Book Prize with plea to make EU stronger", euractiv.com, 8 January 2015, retrieved 30 January 2017
  5. ^ "European Book Prize 2015" Archived 25 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Cafebabel, 21 December 2015, retrieved 30 January 2017
  6. ^ "David Van Reybrouck wins the European Book Prize". Focus on Belgium. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
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