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. Find out more about our book club here, and stay up to date with what we're reading next. 

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. Find out more about our book club here, and stay up to date with what we're reading next. 

Our fourth EUPL book club meeting spotlighted travel. The book club read three EUPL winning novels: Death drives an Audi (Døden kører Audi) by Kristian Bang Foss (Denmark, 2013), The son (Sin) by Andrej Nikolaidis (Montenegro, 2011), and The day the river froze (Τη μέρα που πάγωσε ο ποταμός) by Stavros Christodoulou (Cyprus, 2020). This event was organised in partnership with Lit Cities - an exciting digital initiative compiling a database of novels that unveil the magic of urban tales and equip the reader with a feeling for a city‘s inhabitants, their habits and idiosyncrasies. Lit Cities is the cultural hub for the world of literature and the poetic dimension of travelling. For our discussion on the theme, we were joined by Stavros Christodoulou, who spoke about his EUPL winning novel, upcoming new book and his writing career, as well as the cities and regions his works are based in.  Find out more about our book club here, and stay up to date with what we're reading next. 

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. Find out more about our book club here, and stay up to date with what we're reading next.   

On 17 June 2020, EUPL laureates Lana Bastašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina 2020 and Raquel Martínez-Gómez (Spain 2010) participated at an online Q&A event hosted by the female-led online book club Women's Writes. This is the audio recording on the event. 

Ahead of the World Refugee Day on 20 June, EUPL spoke with Walid Nabhan (Malta, 2017) and Giovanni Dozzini (Italy, 2019) highlighting topics of displacement, identity, and the role of literature in raising awareness to the challenges refugees and displaced people face globally.

On 13 May 2020, EUPL laureates Gabriela Babnik (Slovenia, 2013) and Piia Leino (Finland, 2019) participated at an online Q&A event hosted by the female-led online book club Women's Writes. This is the audio recording on the event. 

On 15 April 2020, EUPL laureates Evie Wyld (UK, 2014) and Bianca Bellová (Czech Republic, 2017) participated at an online Q&A event hosted by the female-led online book club Women's Writes. This is the audio recording on the event. 

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. The book club read three EUPL winning novels: 'Vom Ende der Einsamkeit (On the end of loneliness)' from Benetict Wells, 'Op de Hoogte (Up to date)' from Christophe van Gerrewey, and 'Longshore drift' from Karen Gillece.   Find out more about our book club here, and stay up to date with what we're reading next. 

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.  Part 1: here Part 2: here