With support of EC, European and International Booksellers Federation, European Writers’ Council and EU Federation of European Publishers announce literary contest for emerging authors who have published one or more books but are not known to wider range of readers.  

Aim of the Prize

The aim of the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) is to put the spotlight on the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literature in the field of fiction, to promote the circulation of literature within Europe and to encourage greater interest in non-national literary works.

The works of the ed winners (one per country participating in the Prize on a rotation basis) will reach a wider and international audience, and touch readers beyond national and linguistic borders.

The Prize is financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, which aims to achieve three main goals: to promote cross-border mobility of those working in the cultural sector; to encourage the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic output; and to foster intercultural dialogue.

As the consortium ed by the European Commission to coordinate the initiative, the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), the European Writers' Council (EWC) and the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) are jointly responsible for the setting up of the national juries and the practical organisation of the award ceremony.

The Prize competition is open to the 36 countries currently involved in the Creative Europe programme. Each year, national juries in a third of the participating countries nominate their winning authors, making it possible for all countries and language areas to be represented over a three-year cycle.

The first three-year cycle was completed in 2009-2011, the second cycle in 2012-2014.

ion Process

The winning authors are ed by qualified juries set up in each of the countries participating in the award.

The emerging authors are ed on the basis of criteria stipulated by the European Commission and fulfill in particular the following requirements:

• The author must be a citizen one of the 12 ed countries.
• The author should have published between 2 and 4 contemporary fiction books.
• The winning book must not exceed the maximum number of 4 translations.
• The winning books must be the latest work of the author, must have been published in the last 18 months and must still be commercially available.