The winners of the Russian Prize, an international literary prize, will be announced in Moscow on April 22. The names of the authors shortlisted for Russian Prize were announced a month ago. The list of laureates included nine writers and poets from six different countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, USA, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. The prize is awarded for works of literature created in 2013 in three areas: Poetry, Short Story and Novels.
The Poetry nominees are: Shamshad Abdulaev (Uzbekistan) for Tightening Edges; Nijat Mamedov (Azerbaijan) for Place of Meeting Everywhere; and Andrei Polyakov (Ukraine) for A Letter.
The Short Story nominees are Ilya Olegov (Kazakstan), for his collection of stories 'Timur and his Summer'; Alexander Stesin (USA), for 'Turn and Take'; and Elena Styazhkina (Ukraine), for stories from the literary cycle 'A Single Talent'.
The Novels nominees are: Valery Bochkov (USA), for 'To the South of Virginia'; Alexei Nikitin (Ukraine), for 'Victory Park'; and Sasha Filipenko (Belarus), for 'Former Son'.
The Russian Prize was established in 2005 and since then it has secured its place amongst the top five of the most prestigious Russian literary prizes. The idea behind the prize is to preserve Russian language as a unique phenomenon of world culture and to support Russian-language writers wherever they live.
During the past eight years Russian Prize has been awarded to more than 70 writers and poets from 26 countries around the world. These include Bakhyt Kenjeev, Boris Khazanov, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Yuz Aleshkovsky, Anastasia Afanasyeva, Marina Palei, Andrei Ivanov, Margarita Meklina, Vladimir Lorchenkov, Mariam Petrosyan, Marianna Goncharova and Dina Rubina, among others.
Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service
