EU Prize for Literature

Our October EUPL book club meeting spotlighted mystery fiction novels. The book club read three EUPL winning novels: La carte des regrets by Nathalie Skowronek (Belgium, 2020), All the birds, singing by Evie Wyld (UK, 2014), and The diary of an infidelity by Emilios Solomou (Cyprus, 2013).

For our discussion on the theme, we were joined by Nathalie Skowronek, who spoke about her EUPL winning novel and explored the secrets it hides.

Our September EUPL book club meeting spotlighted short stories collections. The book club read three EUPL winning novels: The hour of dusk (Dienų Piramidės) by Daina Opolskaitė  (Lithuania, 2019), Breve teoría del viaje y el desierto (Brief theory of travel and the desert) by Cristian Crusat  (Spain, 2013), and Има ли кой да ви обича (Is there anybody to love you) by Kalin Terziiski (Bulgaria, 2011). 

For our discussion on the theme, we were joined by Daina Opolskaite, who spoke about her EUPL winning novel and how her love of short stories shaped her writing career.

Our third EUPL book club meeting spotlighted historical fiction. The book club read three EUPL winning novels: Viaţa Începe Vineri (Life Begins On Friday) by Ioana Pârvulescu (Romania, 2013), Le Dernier Gardien d’Ellis Island (The Last Guardian of Ellis Island) by Gaëlle Josse (France, 2015), and Gaiļu Kalna Ēnā (In the Shadow of Rooster Hill) by Osvalds Zebris (Latvia, 2017).

For our discussion on the theme, we were joined by Ioana Pârvulescu and Osvalds Zebris, who spoke about their EUPL winning novels and about their lives and writing careers following the Coronavirus outbreak.

Our second book club meeting spotlighted relationships dynamics, exploring family and romantic connections. We were joined by Chistophe van Gerrewey, one of the spotlighted authors, for our discussion on the theme, talking about his EUPL winning book, and his life and writing career following the Coronavirus outbreak.

In the third and final episode of a new #EUPLonline reading podcast, our 2019 laureate Marta Dzido from Poland reads the English excerpt of her winning book ‘Frajda’, or 'Thrills' in English. Listen here to find out how the story continues. 

In the second episode of a new #EUPLonline reading podcast, our 2019 laureate Marta Dzido from Poland reads the English excerpt of her winning book ‘Frajda’, or 'Thrills' in English. Listen here and make sure to come back next week to find out how the story continues.

In the first episode of a new #EUPLonline reading podcast, our 2019 laureate Marta Dzido from Poland reads the English excerpt of her winning book ‘Frajda’, or 'Thrills' in English. Listen here and make sure to come back next week to find out how the story continues. 

A while ago we had an opportunity to speak with Nikos Chryssos, our 2019 winner from Greece. Nicos talks about what meeting other EUPL winners means to him, common themes he saw emerging between them, and why books and bookstores hold a special place in his heart. 

Born in 1972 in Athens, Nikos Chryssos (Νίκος Χρυσός) studied at the Department of  Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and at the Department of Film Direction at the School of Cinematography ‘Lykourgos Stavrakos’. He is the owner of an old books’ store in Athens. He wrote the novels The Secret of the Last Page (Το μυστικό της τελευταίας σελίδας, Kastaniotis Editions 2009) and New Day (Καινούργια μέρα, Kastaniotis Editions 2018). In 2014 he edited the annotated revised edition of the book Unforgettable Times (Αξέχαστοι καιροί) by Lefteris Alexiou as well as the collected volume Stories of Books (Ιστορίες βιβλίων), both published by Kastaniotis Editions.  Since September 2018 he has been the Vice-President of the Greek Section of the ‘International Society of Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis’ (ISFNK). 

Marta Dzido was born in 1981; writer, documentary filmmaker and film editor. Graduated at the Polish Film School in Łódź. Author of three novels: "A Mark Left by Mom" (2003), "The Clam"; (2005), hypertext "Matrioszka"; (2013) and a non-fiction book "Women of Solidarity" (2016). Director of photography of the documentary "Underground Women’s State" (2009) and co-director of ;"Downtown"; (2010), a documentary that has won the Hollywood Eagle Documentary Award in 2011. Screenwriter, co-director and editor of “Solidarity according to Women” (2014, Krzysztof Kieslowski Beyond Borders Award, special award of Polish Film Institute)  and docudrama "Women Power" (2018). 

Giovanni Dozzini was born in Perugia (1978) where he still lives today. He works as both a journalist and an interpreter. His articles have been published in several internationally acclaimed newspapers including “Europa”, “Huffington Post Italia”, “Pagina99”, “Onda Rock” and “Nazione Indiana”. Since 2014, Giovanni has been a member of the organizing committee for Encuentro, a festival that aims to promote Spanish literature in Umbria. Music is a passion of his, often defining himself as a "failed rock-star".

Piia Leino was born in 1977. She lives in Helsinki with her family, and has worked as a journalist at the Finnish News Agency, STT, for almost two decades. She got her Master’s degree in social studies, majoring in journalism, from University of Tampere in 2004. She also studied creative writing for two years at the renowned Kriittinen korkeakoulu (Critical Academy) in Helsinki in 2015-2017.

Her second novel is literal dystopian novel TAIVAS (2018, “Heaven”). Her first novel was RUMA KASSA (2016, “The Ugly Cashier”, publ. Johnny Kniga) was about reality tv and the pressures women face. Her third novel will be published in 2020.

As an author she writes to understand how society works, and where it is headed. Her interests include popular culture, social media and politics.

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears was published by Liberties Press in 2014 to critical acclaim, followed by a short story collection, Children’s Children in 2016, and a flash fiction anthology, Postcard Stories (2017): every day in 2015 Jan Carson wrote a short story on the back of a postcard and mailed it to a friend. Each of these tiny stories was inspired by an event, an overheard conversation, a piece of art or just a fleeting glance of something worth thinking about further. The success of this collection lead to Jan Carson becoming the Irish Writers Centre’s first Roaming Writer-In-Residence, 2018, working with aspirant authors who also created ‘postcard stories’.

Published in journals such as Storm Cellar, Banshee, Harper’s Bazaar and The Honest Ulsterman, Jan Carson received an Arts Council NI Artist’s Career Enhancement Bursary in 2014. She was longlisted for the Sean O’Faolain short story prize in 2015 and won the Harper’s Bazaar short story competition in 2016. In 2014/15, she collaborated with local songwriter Hannah McPhillimy to produce an EP of songs based on her first novel. Hannah and Jan performed this material at music and literary festivals throughout Europe.

Poet and author Ófeigur Sigurðsson was born in Reykjavík on November 2, 1975. He has published six books of poetry and two novels. Ófeigur has tried his hand at a number of things: working as a uniformed night-watchman at a hotel, pre-packing ham and bacon at a factory farm, exercising his brawn as a dock worker, and exercising his brains as a student at the Philosophy Department of the University of Iceland, from where he received his BA degree in 2007, with a thesis on the taboo and transgression in the works of Georges Bataille. Ófeigur is at the forefront of a poetic movement of dynamic young creative people, who have recently had a hand in reshaping the form of Icelandic poetry. He has translated literature and written for radio on writers including Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Michel Houellebecq.