NIN's award for the best novel of the year in the Serbian language was presented tonight in the Assembly of Belgrade to writer Dragan Velikić for the novel "Investigator".
The jury made the decision to award this prize to Velikić on January 18
Addressing the crowd, Velikić said that the NIN award was created by writers who, according to him, are today classics of Serbian literature, as well as readers.
He assessed that culture in Serbia has lost its importance in the previous 25 years and that instead of it, tabloids dominate today.
Along with Dobrica Ćosić and Živojin Pavlović, Velikić won the NIN award for novel of the year twice, the previous time in 2007 for the novel "Russian Window".
Awarding the award, the Minister of Culture and Information of Serbia, Ivan Tasovac, assessed that it was the most significant, prestigious and influential award on the Serbian literary scene.
According to the editor-in-chief of NIN, Milan Ćulibrko, for the first time in the history of this award, which was presented for the 62nd time, the Ministry of Culture and Information stood behind the award for the novel of the year.
"NIN has always taken care of culture, even when neither the state nor others did. NIN will always criticize every government, past, present and future, for all the bad moves it makes," said Ćulibrk.
Explaining the decision of the five-member jury, its member Mihajlo Pantić stated that the novel "Investigator" is a "suggestively and layered story told about the condition of an individual by complex existential circumstances that cannot be rationally influenced".
The editors of NIN also awarded the award for Person of the Year for 2015, and the winner is basketball player Nataša Kovačević, who continued her career after a serious car accident.
The award ceremony was also attended by the Head of Serbian Diplomacy Ivica Dačić, the Minister of Transport of Serbia Zorana Mihajlović and the President of the New Party Zoran Živković.
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