Polish writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018, Olga Tokarczuk is the winner of the "Literary Flame" international award, the publishing house Nova knjiga announced.
The announcement adds that Tokarčuk will visit Montenegro at the beginning of September, where she will be awarded an award.
The decision for Tokarčuk to receive this award was made by the jury for awarding the "Literary Flame" award at the regular session held today.
The president of the jury is the first winner of the "Literary flame" award and its co-founder, Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Ljosa, and the members are the owner of the New Book and co-founder of the award Predrag Uljarević, academician Siniša Jelušić, professors Sonja Tomović Šundić and Aleksandar Jerkov.
The Nova House press release states that after the first winner and founder of the prize Marija Vargas Lhosa, the "Literary Flame" came into the hands of seven more outstanding world writers - Klaudio Magris, Orhan Pamuk, Adam Zagajevski, Margaret Atwood, Gabriel Zaid, Irene Vallejo and Javier Serkasa.
"The visit of the last laureate, Javier Serkas, to Montenegro, meetings with readers and conversations, the writer's great interest in our culture and literature, and thoughtful words about the role, place and importance of literature and literary engagement left an exceptional impression. The dialogue between Catalonia and Spain that Serkas had what to say and which is stimulating and considering our circumstances, is a contribution to better understanding and overcoming tension," the announcement reads.
From New Book, they added that the jury judged that after the break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, "Literary flame" continues to bring the most important European and world writers to Montenegro and leads with big steps through a real, better literary 21st century and thus makes a noticeable contribution to the processes taking place in Montenegrin society and the state today.
"Exactly in the spirit of the basic principles of the Literary Flame award, based on the text of the same name by Mario Vargas Ljosa, literature and its promotion are part of the effort to live in a better world of equality and tolerance, equality and prosperity, protection of the rights of all residents and the free expression of all attitudes, mutual understanding and, above all, the preservation of peace. While the flames of war consume lives, the jury and its president are looking for literature dedicated to peace, freedom and equality," the announcement reads.
It is stated that, having in front of it the excellence of previous winners and a number of exceptional candidates, the jury considered several authors who have been in the center of its attention for some time and agreed on a single court to award the prize in 2023 to a prominent writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2019 ., to the Polish, European and world writer Olga Tokarčuk, whose novels and prose have for years been the favorite reading of those who know what real and great literature is in Montenegro and the surrounding area.
"Olga Tokarčuk wrote novels and stories, poetry and essays, librettos and screenplays, is the holder of several honorary doctorates and a psychologist focused on Jung's school, which left a mark in her work, the founder of her foundation and a social activist who boldly enters into open disputes in an effort to raises the idea of democracy and human rights to a higher level. In her prose, the jury recognized the poetics of constant change and new research, the audacity to move into the unknown with each new venture despite the success of the previous book, the great breadth of genre transformations and research on neuralgic topics important for Poland, The Czech Republic and Germany, for the Europe of border zones and situations, for its history and modernity, different languages, traditions and customs that leave their powerful and convincing mark in former and present-day Central Europe and represent a heritage that must be protected as a form of special wealth. opportunities and changes we are going through, in a dialogue with the great work of the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and other literary winners of the Literary Flame, in the range that the prize has already described by connecting different continents, countries of origin and places where the winners of the Literary Flame live and work, we can find great support to boldly move forward with great literature," they said from New Book.
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