One of the most significant events in the country’s literary calendar – the presentation of the National “Elias Canetti” Award – will take place on October 31 at 6:00 p.m. in the Slavi Shkarov Hall of the Dohodno Zdanie (the Revenue Building) in Ruse.
For the 11th time, the distinction will be awarded to a contemporary Bulgarian author whose work embodies the spirit of humanism and cosmopolitanism – values that the Ruse-born Nobel Prize laureate in Literature Elias Canetti has brought into the world’s literary heritage.
Among a record number of 65 nominations this year, the competent jury selected seven finalists in the Fiction category. The writers competing for the bronze statuette, created by sculptor Maya Kubratova, are:
Radoslav Bimbalov – “You, My Likeness” (Ciela Publishing)
Georgi Gospodinov – “The Gardener and Death” (Janet 45 Publishing)
Deyan Enev – “Sixty Stories” (Janet 45 Publishing)
Violeta Radkova – “And Our Bed Is Greenery” (Janet 45 Publishing)
Zahari Karabashliev – “Wound” (Ciela Publishing)
Ivan Stankov – “In Two Voices” (Hermes Publishing)
Krasimir Dimovski – “Theseus in His Labyrinth” (Hermes Publishing)
This year, no nominations were announced in the Drama category.
The evaluation of the works was entrusted to well-established figures in the fields of literary criticism and culture: Prof. Dr. Plamen Doynov – Chair of the Jury; Prof. Dr. Kleo Protochristova; Prof. Dr. Penka Angelova – Chair of the International Elias Canetti Society; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Velislava Doneva from Ruse University; Krum Gergitsov – theatre critic; Teodora Dimova – writer and nominee from 2021; and Kosyo Stanev – representative of the Standing Committee on Culture and Religious Affairs at the Ruse Municipal Council.
The award winner will receive a certificate, a bronze statuette, and a cash prize of 5,000 leva.
