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.

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

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 [eo; fr]   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