Samsung Russia, Co-founder of Yasnaya Polyana Book Award, Announces Long List of Foreign Literature Category

Co-founders of the Yasnaya Polyana Award, Samsung Electronics and the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate have announced the long list for the “Foreign Literature” nomination.

The Foreign Literature nomination was introduced in 2015 and highlights the most significant 21st century foreign fiction books, as well as their translations into Russian. A panel of experts includes translators, foreign publishers and literary critics and journalists. The prize fund for the Foreign Literature category is divided into two parts: the winner (a foreign writer) will receive 1 million rubles while the translator will receive 200,000 rubles.

In 2016 the long list for the Foreign Literature category includes 31 works by authors from Austria, the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, India, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Turkey, Sweden, France and RSA (see Appendix, p.3). The short list in this category is not formed; the jury will directly choose the winner. In 2015, the first laureates in this category were Ruth Ozeki, for her novel titled “A Tale for the Time Being,” and Yekaterina Ilyina, the novel’s Russian translator. The 2016 winner will be announced in October 2016. Books included in this category long list became an invaluable gateway to contemporary foreign literature.

“As the president of the jury, I am pleased that we have had the Foreign Literature Nomination since the last year. We are proud of the lists that we presented last year as well as this year. Tastes differ, but these books can be recommended for reading without any hesitation, because they are really brilliant pieces of literature. I would like to thank Samsung, the co-founder of the award, for the support and cooperation”, – said Vladimir Tolstoy, the Сhairman of the Yasnaya Polyana prize committee and Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation on Cultural Matters.

“The new category for the Foreign Literature propelled the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award to the international stage. As a global corporation and co-founders of the Award, we are delighted to contribute to promoting classical literary traditions in Russia and abroad,” – said Natalya Malyova, the Head of Public Relations and Sponsorship Department of the Samsung Electronics CIS.

“The Foreign Literature category long list is not just a list of books for reading, but also a reflection of contemporary world literature trends. The introduction of international nomination enables us to incorporate our literature into the global context, and the world literature in Russian context,”– said Vladislav Otroshenko, a member of the Yasnaya Polyana Award jury, writer and essayist.

“The list is interesting because it presents not only the well-known authors, but also those about whom we have known almost nothing before. Thanks to Yasnaya Polyana Award and Samsung we were able to discover new names and present them to Russian readers,” – said Alexey Varlamov, a member of the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award jury, writer and researcher of the 20th-century literature.

“There’s nothing more scary than the ‘what to read?’ question for a literary critic. As critics, we may say much on a specific author or a novel. But when it comes to giving advice, this is what is called a deadlock. And this list of 31 books is the most distinct and could be recommended for everyone,” – said  Natalia Kochetkova, Foreign Literature Category expert.

The annual Yasnaya Polyana literature competition recognizes works that preserve the traditions of classic literature and also represent relevant trends in modern Russian writing. Prizes are awarded for the best traditional literary work in the following categories: Modern Classics, XXI Century, Childhood, Adolescence, Youth. With Samsung’s support, two new categories were added in 2015. These include Foreign Literature and the Samsung Readers’ Choice special prize.

Distribution of the prize fund

• XXI century – 2 000 000 rubles,
• Modern Classics – 1 500 000 rubles,
• Childhood, Adolescence, Youth – 500 000 rubles.

The short listed authors receive the sum of 1 000 000 rubles, which will be divided amongst the winners in the XXI century category. Finalists in the Childhood, Adolescence, Youth category receive 300 000 rubles.

The prize fund of the Foreign Literature category is divided into two parts: the foreign author receives 1 000 000 rubles, and the translator of the winning book receives 200 000 rubles.

* In order to view the Appendix, please refer to the PDF below.