Zakhar Prilepin Wins Big Book Prize

On November 25 the jury of the Big Book literary prize announced its top three picks from the short list. The top prize was awarded to Zakhar Prilepin’s “The Cloister”, which already won the Book of the Year award and is also a finalist for the Russian Booker. Vladimir Sorokin took second place for “Tellurium” and Vladimir Sharov won third place for “Return to Egypt”. 

Prilepin’s novel presents tells the story This history of the ancient monastery of Solovki, which was turned into a prison in the 1920s, is told from the point of view of a young man who ended up there for an accidental murder.

Svetlana Aleksievich was the favorite in readers’ voting for Second-Hand Time, while Zakhar Prilepin and Alexei Makushinsky came in second and third.

The Big Book Prize is an annual literary award for the best book of any genre written in Russian. It is the largest literary award in Russia and is the second largest literary award in the world in terms of prize money, falling just behind the Nobel Prize for Literature. The jury’s first-place winner receives 3 million rubles while the second- and third-place winners receive 1.5 million and 1 million rubles, respectively.

Founded in 2005, the Big Book prize is supported by various State, public and media organizations. Each year the long list is announced by the end of April followed by a short list at the end of May. Readers select writers of their choice by casting their individual votes online.