European Book Prize

Award

European Book Prize

Awarded for| promoting European values, and contributing to European citizens' better understanding of the European Union as a cultural entity
Location|  European Union
Presented by| Esprit d'Europe
Reward(s)| €10,000
First awarded| 2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Currently held by| Robert Menasse for Die Erweiterung (2023)
Website| livre-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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* European Commission photos relating to awarding of the first Europe Book Prize on 5 December 2007 in the European Parliament in Brussels