Franz Kafka Prize

Not to be confused with Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.

Franz Kafka Prize
Country	Czech Republic
Presented by	Franz Kafka Society
Reward(s)	$10,000
First award	2001
Website	https://www.franzkafka-soc.cz/

The Franz Kafka Prize is an international literary award presented in honour of Franz Kafka, the Jewish, Bohemian, German-language novelist. The prize was first awarded in 2001 and is co-sponsored by the Franz Kafka Society and the city of Prague, Czech Republic.

Award information and history

At a presentation held annually in the Old Town Hall (Prague), the recipient receives $10,000, a diploma, and a bronze statuette. ^[1] Each award is often called the "Kafka Prize" or "Kafka Award".

The award earned some prestige in the mid 2000s by foreshadowing the Nobel Prize when two of its winners went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year, Elfriede Jelinek (2004) and Harold Pinter (2005). ^[2]

The criteria for winning the award include the artwork's "humanistic character and contribution to cultural, national, language [sic] and religious tolerance, its existential, timeless character, its generally human validity and its ability to hand over [sic] a testimony about our times." ^[3]

Award winners

Previous winners. ^[4]

Year	Picture	Winner	Nationality	Language(s)	Genre(s)	Ref(s)
2022
2021		Ivan Vyskočil (1929–2023)	Czech Republic	Czech	novel, drama	[5]
2020		Milan Kundera (1929–2023)	France/  Czech Republic	French/Czech	novel, short story, poetry, essay, drama	[6]
2019		Pierre Michon (1945–)	France	French	novel, short story
2018		Ivan Wernisch (1942–)	Czech Republic	Czech	poetry, translation	[7]
2017		Margaret Atwood (1939–)	Canada	English	poetry, novel, short story, literary criticism, essay	[8]
2016		Claudio Magris (1939–)	Italy	Italian	essay, translation, novel, short story	[9]
2015		Eduardo Mendoza (1943–)	Spain	Spanish	novel, short story, drama, essay	[10]
2014		Yan Lianke (1958–)	China	Chinese	novel, short story	[11]
2013		Amos Oz (1939–2018)	Israel	Hebrew	novel, short story, essay	[12] [13]
2012		Daniela Hodrová (1946–)	Czech Republic	Czech	novel	[2]
2011		John Banville (1945–)	Ireland	English	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essay	[14]
2010		Václav Havel (1936–2011)	Czech Republic	Czech	poetry, drama, essay	[15]
2009		Peter Handke (1942–)	Austria	German	novel, poetry, essay, short story, screenplay, drama
2008		Arnošt Lustig (1926–2011)	Czech Republic	Czech	novel, short story, drama, screenplay	[16]
2007		Yves Bonnefoy (1923–2016)	France	French	poetry, essay, translation, short story, history	[17]
2006		Haruki Murakami (1949–)	Japan	Japanese	novel, short story, essay, memoirs	[18]
2005		Harold Pinter (1930–2008)	United Kingdom	English	drama, screenplay
2004		Elfriede Jelinek (1946–)	Austria	German	novel, poetry, drama, translation
2003		Péter Nádas (1942–)	Hungary	Hungarian	drama, essay, novel	[19]
2002		Ivan Klíma (1931–)	Czech Republic	Czech	novel, drama, memoirs	[20]
2001		Philip Roth (1933–2018)	United States	English	novel, short story, memoirs, essay

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of Czech literary awards

References

1. "The Franz Kafka Prize". Společnost Franze Kafky. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
2. "Franz Kafka Prize goes to Czech writer Daniela Hodrová". literalab. May 25, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
3. "Franz Kafka Prize". The Franz Kafka Society. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
4. "Franz Kafka Prize, official website". Franz Kafka Society. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
5. "The writer Ivan Vyskočil won the Franz Kafka Award 2021". Franz Kafka Society. 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
6. "Milan Kundera 'joyfully' accepts Czech Republic's Franz Kafka prize". The Guardian. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
7. "The Franz Kafka International Literary Prize 2018" (PDF). Oct 19, 2018. Retrieved Jan 3, 2019.
8. "The Franz Kafka International Literary Prize 2017" (PDF). May 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
9. "The Franz Kafka Prize 2016 – Claudio Magris". Společnost Franze Kafky. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
10. Daniela Uherková (June 2, 2015). "The Laureate of the Franz Kafka Prize 2015 is the Spanish Writer Eduardo Mendoza". SPOLEČNOST FRANZE KAFKY. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
11. ČTK (May 26, 2014). "Cenu Franze Kafky letos dostane čínský prozaik Jen Lien-kche". České noviny (in Czech). Retrieved May 27, 2014.
12. "Israeli Author Amos Oz Wins Franz Kafka Prize". AP. May 27, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
13. "Amos Oz – the New Laureate of the Franz Kafka Prize". Franz Kafka Society. May 28, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
14. Spain, John (May 26, 2011). "Banville gets top book award". Irish Independent . Retrieved May 26, 2011.
15. "Vaclav Havel wins Franz Kafka prize". CBC News . October 27, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
16. "Novelist Lustig awarded Kafka Prize". Agence France-Presse . April 9, 2008. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
17. "French poet Bonnefoy wins Franz Kafka Prize". CBC News . 30 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
18. "Japanese writer Haruki Murakami wins Kafka award". ABC News . October 31, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2006.
19. Horáková, Pavla (October 31, 2003). "Franz Kafka Society awards Peter Nadas". Radio Prague . Retrieved October 31, 2003.
20. Horáková, Pavla (October 31, 2002). "Writer Ivan Klima wins Franz Kafka Prize". Radio Prague . Retrieved October 31, 2002.

External links

• Official website