Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea - Stqarrija għall-istampa Ir-Rebbieħa tal-Premju tal-Unjoni Ewropea tal-2011 għal-Letteratura Brussell, il-11 ta' Ottubru 2011 – Ir-rebbieħa tal-Premju tal-Unjoni Ewropea tal-2011 għal-Letteratura, li jirrikonoxxi l-aħjar kittieba ġodda fl-UE, tħabbru llum fil-Fiera tal-Kotba fi Frankfurt. Ir-Rebbieħa huma: Kalin Terziyski (il-Bulgarija), Tomáš Zmeškal (ir-Repubblika Ċeka), Kostas Hatziantoniou (il-Greċja), Ófeigur Sigurðsson (l-Islanda), Inga Zolude (il-Latvja) Iren Nigg (il-Liechtenstein), Immanuel Mifsud (Malta), Andrej Nikolaidis (il-Montenegro), Rodaan Al Galidi (il-Pajjiżi l-Baxxi), Jelena Lengold (is-Serbja), Ciler Ilhan (it-Turkija), u Adam Foulds (ir-Renju Unit). (Ara taħt għad-dettalji tax-xogħlijiet rebbieħa.) Kull rebbieħ jingħata EUR 5 000 u l-opportunità li jkollu l-ktieb tiegħu tradott f'lingwi oħrajn biex ikun iktar attraenti għall-qarrejja f'pajjiżi oħra. “Jiena nifraħ lir-rebbieħa eċċezzjonali tal-premju ta' din is-sena u nispera li se jagħmlu użu mill-appoġġ tagħna ta' ‘traduzzjoni letterarja' sabiex ikunu jistgħu jgawdu l-kotba tagħhom kemm jista' jkun qarrejja f'kemm jista' jkun lingwi. Nixtieq ukoll nuri l-istima tiegħi lill-industrija reżiljenti tal-Ewropa tal-pubblikazzjoni tal-kotba li hija fuq quddiem nett fid-dinja f'dan il-qasam, timpjega 135 000 ruħ u tikkontribwixxi EUR 23 biljun lill-PDG tal-UE,” qalet Androulla Vassiliou, il-Kummissarju Ewropew għall-Edukazzjoni, il-Kultura, il-Multilingwiżmu u ż-Żgħażagħ. Il-Premju tal-Unjoni Ewropea għal-Letteratura jiġi organizzat mill-Kummissjoni Ewropea, il-Federazzjoni Ewropea tal-Bejjiegħa tal-Kotba, il-Kunsill Ewropew tal-Kittieba u l-Federazzjoni tal-Pubblikaturi Ewropej. Il-kompetizzjoni hija mifuħa għas-36 pajjiż involuti fil-Programm tal-Kultura tal-UE (is-27 Stat Membru, il-Bosnija-Ħerzegovina, l-Islanda, il-Liechtenstein, in-Norveġja, il-Kroazja, Dik li kienet ir-Repubblika Jugoslava tal-Maċedonja, il-Montenegro, is-Serbja u t-Turkija). Kull sena, il-ġuriji nazzjonali fi 12 mill-pajjiżi parteċipanti jinnominaw il-kittieba rebbieħa, u b'hekk, fuq perjodu ta' tliet snin,il-pajjiżi kollha fil-programm ikunu rappreżentati. Ir-rebbieħa ta' din is-sena se jingħatawlhom il-premji waqt ċerimonja fi Brussell fit-28 ta' Novembru, fil-preżenza tal-Kummissarju Vassiliou u personaġġi pubbliċi ewlenin fl-oqsma tal-letteratura, il-kultura u l-politika. Dawn se jinkludu l-Prinċipessa Laurentien tal-Pajjiżi l-Baxxi, il-president tal-Grupp ta' Livell Għoli tal-UE dwar il-Litteriżmu, Bogdan Zdrojewski, il-Ministru Polakk għall-Kultura u l-Wirt, u Doris Pack, il-president tal-Kumitat tal-Kultura u l-Edukazzjoni tal-Parlament Ewropew. Sfond Ir-rebbieħa tal-Premju tal-Unjoni Ewropea għal-Litteratura tal-2011 huma: Il-BULGARIJA Awtur: Kalin Terziyski Titlu: Има ли кой да ви обича,Издателство (stejjer qosra) IR-REPUBBLIKA ĊEKA Awtur: Tomáš Zmeškal Titlu: Milostný dopis klínovým písmem IL-GREĊJA Awtur: Kostas Hatziantoniou Titlu: Agrigento L-ISLANDA Awtur: Ófeigur Sigurðsson Titlu: Jon IL-LATVJA Awtur: Inga Zolude Titlu: Mierinâjums Âdama kokam (ġabra ta' stejjer) IL-LIECHTENSTEIN Awtur: Iren Nigg Titlu: Man wortet sich die Orte selbst MALTA Awtur: Immanuel Mifsud Titlu: Fl-Isem tal-Missier (u tal-iben) IL-MONTENEGRO Awtur: Andrej Nikolaidis Titlu: Sin IL-PAJJIŻI L-BAXXI Awtur: Rodaan Al Galidi Titlu: De autist en de postduif IS-SERBJA Awtur: Jelena Lengold Titlu: Vašarski Mađioničar IT-TURKIJA Awtur: Ciler Ilhan Titlu: Sürgün IR-RENJU UNIT Awtur: Adam Foulds Titlu: The Quickening Maze Għal aktar tagħrif: Il-websajt tal-premju: http://www.euprizeliterature.eu Portal tal-kultura tal-Unjoni Ewropea: http://ec.europa.eu/culture MEMO/11/681 Memo dwar il-Mistoqsijiet l-Aktar Komuni: Il-Premju tal-Unjoni Ewropea għal-Litteratura ANNEX In their own words: What the winning authors say about their books, with short description of each work 1. What I hope the prize will bring me 2. What inspired me to write the awarded book Bulgaria, Kalin Terziyski, Има ли кой да ви обича, (Is there anybody to love you (short stories) Author: 1. За писателят най-важното нещо са читателите; надявам се тази награда да ми донесе повече читатели от цяла Европа. (For the writer, readers are the most important thing; I hope this prize will bring me more readers from all over Europe.) 2. За написването на тази моя книга ме вдъхнови мисълта, че на самотата и смъртта, които властват навсякъде из бедния ни свят, могат да се противопоставят, при това чудесно, изкуството и вдъхновението; защото те са над смъртта и самотата. (When writing this book I was inspired by the thought that the loneliness and death which hold sway throughout this wretched world of ours can be confronted – and that art and inspiration are a wonderful way of doing this, because art and inspiration prevail over death and loneliness.) Summary: 16 short stories about the mysteries of life in an urban space. But the big city portrayed in the book is not one we would necessarily recognise. It resembles a city in a fairy tale – filled with secrets and drama. The short stories of Kalin Terziiski aim to establish a new tradition in Bulgarian prose of humanistic and poetical urbanism. Czech Republic, Tomáš Zmeškal, Milostný dopis klínovým písmem, (A Love Letter in Cuneiform Script) Author: 1. Píši protože cítím nutnost vyjádřit a popsat krajiny vnitřní a vnější, jestli cena otevře můj soukromý bedeker novým čtenářským turistům budu spokojen. (I write because I feel the need to describe and convey the lands that lie inside and outside me. If the prize opens up my private guidebook to new tourists of the written word I will be satisfied.) 2. Vzpomínky, pohledy, přeřeknutí, potlačené myšlenky, čas prokluzující mezi prsty, chuť zapomenout. Bezmoc. Nevhodné ohledy. Krev na rtech. Zmar. Beznaděj. Rozpomínání. Houštiny vztahů. Rozetnutí. (Memories, snapshots, slips of the tongue, suppressed thoughts, time slipping through the fingers, a desire to forget. Helplessness. Inappropriate looks. Blood on the lips. Ruin. Despair. Reminiscences. The tangled web of relationships. The fall of my axe.) Summary: The novel is both a history and a love story, which touches on moral issues, myths and science fiction. This family saga might also be seen as a collage or mosaic. The main plot is set in Czechoslovakia between the 1940s and the 1990s and its narrative concerns the tragic stories of one family. Greece Kostas Hatziantoniou, Agrigento Author: 1. Κάθε βραβείο, κάθε διάκριση είναι μια μεγάλη χαρά αλλά και μια ιδιαίτερη ευθύνη. Πιστεύοντας ότι η λογοτεχνία και γενικότερα η τέχνη, αποτελεί στον καιρό μας όχι μόνο μια διαφυγή από έναν κόσμο που συχνά μας πληγώνει αλλά και η ενόραση ενός καλύτερου κόσμου, θεωρώ πως η βράβευσή μου θα στρέψει τα μάτια κάποιων σε μια μορφή λογοτεχνίας που δεν θέλει να είναι μόνο ψυχαγωγία αλλά και πνευματική καλλιέργεια. Να έχω συμβάλει σ' αυτό είναι η πιο μεγάλη τιμή. (Winning a prize is both a great pleasure and a special responsibility. In my opinion, literature and the arts in general provide not just an escape from a world which often hurts us but also the vision of a better one. I think that if I won the prize, it would focus attention on a type of literature which is not only entertaining but also intellectually stimulating. I would consider it a very great honour if I have helped achieve this.) 2. Το Αγκριτζέντο είναι μια πόλη της Σικελίας με πανάρχαια ιστορία αλλά και ιδιαίτερο βάρος αφού αποκαλύπτει σε έναν προσεκτικό παρατηρητή τα πολλαπλά στρώματα της σύγχρονης ευρωπαϊκής κουλτούρας. Η πίστη μου σε αυτή την κουλτούρα και σε κάθε πολιτισμό, που είναι ο αληθινός πλούτος των εθνών, ήταν η έμπνευση γι' αυτό το βιβλίο σαν μέρος μιας προσπάθειας να δώσω την εικόνα όλων των δυνάμεων που συνωθούνται μέσα στην ψυχή ενός Ευρωπαίου του Νότου. (Agrigento is a town in Sicily with an ancient history, of particular interest because on closer inspection it reflects the multiple facets of modern European culture. My faith in this culture and in every culture, which is a nation's true wealth, was the inspiration for this book, in an attempt to capture all the dynamic forces fighting in a southern European's soul.) Summary: Agrigento looks at what happens when a group of people, for whom ordinary life is not enough, meet in modern-day Agrigento, a town in southern Sicily with a long history, as well as one which reflects modern Sicilian culture. Agrigento is a book that is a hymn to Sicily beyond stereotypes and preconceptions, but also a hymn to the real life we miss out on when we surrender ourselves to obsessions. Iceland Ófeigur Sigurðsson, Jon Author: 1. "Ég vona að verðlaunin opni nýjar leiðir fyrir sem flesta." (I hope that this award will open new routes for as many people as possible.) 2. Eyða í sjálfsævisögu eldklerksins, Jóns Steingrímssonar, þegar hann dvaldi í helli veturinn 1755. (It focuses on a gap in the biography of the 'Pastor of Fire', Jon Steingrimsson, when he stayed in a cave during the winter of 1755.) Summary: In the terrible winter of 1755-1756, Jon Steingrimsson travels through Iceland, dwelling in a cave in the south and writing letters to his pregnant wife in the north. The Reverend Jon Steingrimsson is one of the most remarkable people in the history of Iceland, and later became known as the ‘pastor of fire'. This unique novel portrays him as a young man amid the dark times of the first sparks of the Enlightenment. Latvia Inga Zolude, Mierinājums Ādama kokam (A Solace for Adam's Tree (a collection of stories) Author: 1. Es ceru, ka šī balva dos atzinību nevis konkrēti man, bet mūsdienu latviešu literatūrai kopumā, kas ir maz novērtēta ārpus mūsu valodas robežām. (I hope this prize will bring recognition not for me specifically, but for contemporary Latvian literature as a whole, which is little appreciated outside the boundaries of our language.) 2. Es ceru, ka šī balva dos atzinību nevis konkrēti man, bet mūsdienu latviešu literatūrai kopumā, kas ir maz novērtēta ārpus mūsu valodas robežām. (It was a profound and abiding misunderstanding about the subject of life and death, the shame of talking about it, the vow to keep quiet, respect for the dead and an attempt to bring them back, remembering them in my own words – it was like meeting with their spirits. And a journey into the depths of one's soul, entering these people through the gates of purgatory, heaven and hell). Summary: This short story collection reflects on different scenes of life in urban and rural areas in modern-day Latvia. Sometimes it is impossible to guess the place or time that frame these stories, which deal with 'big subjects' at the heart of human life. The stories strongly reflect the atmosphere of 21st century Europe, and make the collection one of the most important prose works published in Latvia during recent years. Liechtenstein Iren Nigg, Man wortet sich die Orte selbst (Wording the Places Oneself) Author: 1. Er soll "meine Kinder" zu den Menschen bringen! (I want it to bring "my children" to the people!) 2. "Die Henne und das Ei." ("The chicken and the egg.") Summary: In prose texts of different lengths, plots and characters are subordinated to the musical play of words and the author reveals and constructs different layers of meaning in her texts. Life is presented as a screenplay with stages that keep changing, while in the process of creative writing it is always “the heart which is her companion”. Malta Immanuel Mifsud, ‘Fl-Isem tal-Missier (tal-iben)', (‘In the Name of the Father (and of the Son)') Author: 1. Hija t-tama tiegħi li permezz ta' dan il-premju l-letteratura tiegħi toħroġ miċ-ċokon strett tal-gżira fejn noqgħod u taqsam lejn il-kontinent biex tiltaqa' u ssib postha ma' letteraturi oħrajn. (It is my hope that with this prize my literature will leave the narrow strait of the island where I live and cross over the mainland to meet with and find its place among other literatures.) 2. Dan il-ktieb tnebbaħ minn djarju li sibt ta' ġuvni ta' dsatax-il sena li daħal fl-armata Ingliża lejlet it-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija. L-esperjenza militari tiegħu, flimkien mat-tfulija diffiċli li qatta' fil-faqar, bla missier u fit-toroq, iffurmatlu ħajtu u ħajjet uliedu. Dak il-ġuvni kien missieri. (This book was inspired by a diary I found, kept by a young man of 19 who joined the British Army during the Second World War. His experience in the military, coupled with his difficult childhood – fatherless, in poverty and on the streets – shaped his life and the lives of his children. That young man was my father.) Summary: Back from his father's funeral, the narrator starts reading a diary his father kept as a soldier during the Second World War. The diary is very scant, almost impersonal, but it is exactly this impersonality which pushes the narrator to re-examine the personal relationship he had with his father. The narrator revisits his father's past, as well as his own, to look for cracks in this façade, to find signs of weakness and displays of emotion. Montenegro Andrej Nikolaidis, Sin (The Son) Author: 1. Nadam se da će nagrada pomoći da moj roman bude preveden na evropske jezike. (I hope that the prize will encourage the translation of my book in different European languages.) 2. Roman "Sin" je bio moj pokušaj da odem što dublje tamo gdje se obično ne ide, u srce onoga što krijemo od svijeta i od sebe samih. (With 'The Son' I try to go where we don't normally go, to explore deep into the heart of what we hide from the world and even from ourselves.) Summary: The Son follows one night in the life of a hero with no name, a writer whose life is falling apart. The hero is a man who can't adapt to new times and rules. Incapable of finding inner peace, he heads into the warm, Mediterranean night, in the city of Ulcinj, where he meets an assortment of characters. Netherlands Rodaan Al Galidi, De autist en de postduif (The autist and the carrier-pigeon) Author: 1. Ik ben met mijn pen van het Arabisch naar het Nederlands gereisd en hoop door deze prijs naar een andere taal te kunnen doorreizen. (I have travelled from Arabic to Dutch with my pen and hope that this prize will enable me to travel onto another language.) 2. Ik koop alles, behalve mijn onderbroeken, bij kringloopwinkels. In Nederland zijn kringloopwinkels een wereld op zich. Daar moest ooit een boek zich afspelen! Eens zag ik een gebroken viool liggen tussen alle tweedehands spulletjes en zo is het begonnen. (I buy everything, except my underpants, from second-hand shops. In the Netherlands second-hand shops are a world of their own. Sooner or later this had to be the setting for a book! Once I saw a broken violin lying amongst all the second-hand bits and bobs and that's how it started.) Summary: Geert is an autistic boy and because of the way his mind works, he combines different machines in order to construct new objects. Through this, he discovers his talent of building violins out of benches, and starts a prosperous business by selling them to a German merchant. He combines this business with caring for a carrier pigeon that always returns to him after flying. The reader is permitted a strange but fascinating insight into his unusual, yet pure and innocent, mind. Serbia Jelena Lengold, Vašarski Mađioničar (Fairground Magician) Author: 1. Nadam se da će zahvaljujući nagradi moja knjiga biti prevedena na nekoliko jezika i tako doći do što više čitalaca širom Evrope. (I hope that thanks to this prize my book will be translated into other languages and reach more readers in Europe.) 2. Knjigu sam pisala negde između svoje četrdesete i pedesete godine, fascinirana svim promenama i spoznajama koje se u ljudima odvijaju u tom životnom dobu. (I wrote the book while I was between 40 and 50 years old, fascinated by the changes and discoveries that people experience at this age.) Summary: The Fairground Magician tells stories about love fulfilled and unfulfilled, about things that are visible in the everyday world and about values that are perceptible only in exceptional moments. The narration assumes various forms, from apparent realism to various other genres, such as crime fiction, thrillers and erotic prose. Lengold is a lucid observer of minute details and subtle emotional shifts. Turkey Ciler Ilhan, Sürgün (Exile) Author: 1. Ödül vasıtasıyla tanışacağım yazar, editor ve yayıncıların, sözlerimi İstanbul dışına taşımasını ve bu kültürel alışverişin (eğer kaderimde varsa) beni (daha) iyi bir yazar olma yolunda beslemesini umuyorum. (I hope that the authors, editors and writers, whom I will meet through the prize, will carry my words beyond Istanbul and that this cultural exchange will nourish me on my path of becoming a (better) good writer (if this is my destiny).) 2. Çatışmalar, işgaller, tecavüzler, aşk; mutenalaştırılan semtler, politik oyunlar, insani güdüler, aşk; çaresizlik, töre cinayetleri, üçüncü sayfa haberleri, büyük romanlar, aşk; kader, döngüler, dışımızdaki ve içimizdeki cinler, köpeklerim, aşk; cehaletin yabaniliği, bilimin görgüsüzlüğü, aile terörü, aşk; suçun, masumiyetin ve varlık mücadelesinin içrek dansı, ve aşk. (Conflicts, invasions, rape, love; neighbourhoods that were refined, politics, human instincts, love; despair, honour crimes, newspaper trivia, great novels, love; destiny, cycles, demons in and around us, my dogs, love; savage ignorance, unruly behaviour in science, intra-family horrors, love; the mysterious dance of offence, innocence and struggle for existence, and love.) Summary: The stories in Exile are monologues by a variety of real-life and fictional characters. Ilhan has a wide-ranging and deep understanding of human experience and suffering, and she is capable of expressing the multi-faceted realities of life strikingly and plainly, sensitive to its pains and injustices. United Kingdom Adam Foulds, The Quickening Maze Author: 1. I very much hope that this prize will bring me a greater closeness to my fellow European writers and readers. 2. It is hard to summarise in one sentence what inspired me to write The Quickening Maze; I could say that the book was centrally an attempt to explore questions of human freedom and integrity. Summary: The poet John Clare is incarcerated in an asylum in 1840. The closed world of the asylum is vividly depicted – at the centre is Clare's own fall into madness and the delusions that convince him he is Byron, or prize-fighter Jack Randall, or even Robinson Crusoe. At the end of the book, Clare escapes and struggles homewards towards his village, not knowing that his childhood sweetheart has died in his absence. Kuntatti : Dennis Abbott (+32 2 295 92 58) Dina Avraam (+32 2 295 96 67) EUPL / eu.Ness: Caroline Hayat (+32 2 374 07 05)