The European Commission invests €3 million a year on literary translation and more than €2.4 million on cooperation projects involving the book sector. The industry contributes €23 billion to the EU´s GDP and employs 135 000 people full time. Books are the second most exported cultural goods in the EU, after works of art and antiques.
Since the European Prize for Literature was launched in 2009, the EU Culture Programme has provided funding for the translation of books by 43 EUPL winners, in 20 different languages, covering a total of 149 translations. The winners also benefit from extra visibility at Europe´s major book fairs, including Frankfurt, London, Göteborg and the Passaporta Festival in Brussels.
The aim of the European Prize for Literature 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 encourage greater interest in non-national literary works.
This year’s winners are: Isabelle Wéry (Belgium), Faruk Šehić (Bosnia Herzegovina), Emilios Solomou (Cyprus), Kristian Bang Foss (Denmark), Meelis Friedenthal (Estonia), Lidija Dimkovska (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Katri Lipson (Finland), Marica Bodrožić (Germany), Tullio Forgiarini (Luxembourg), Ioana Pârvulescu (Romania), Gabriela Babnik (Slovenia) and Cristian Crusat (Spain).
