Franz Kafka Prize

Literary award

Award

Franz Kafka Prize

Country	Czech Republic
Presented by	Franz Kafka Society
Reward(s)	$10,000
First awarded	2001
Website	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	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

References

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

External links

Official website

Franz Kafka (works)

Novels

The Trial
The Castle
Amerika

Short stories

1902–1912	"Shamefaced Lanky and Impure in Heart" "Description of a Struggle" "Wedding Preparations in the Country" "The Judgment" "The Stoker" The Metamorphosis "The Aeroplanes at Brescia"
1914–1917	"In the Penal Colony" "The Village Schoolmaster" "Before the Law" "Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor" "A Country Doctor" "The Hunter Gracchus" "The Great Wall of China" "A Message from the Emperor" "A Report to an Academy" "A Dream" "Up in the Gallery" "A Fratricide" "The Next Village" "A Visit to a Mine" "Jackals and Arabs" "The Bridge" "The Bucket Rider" "The New Advocate" "An Old Manuscript" "The Knock at the Manor Gate" "Eleven Sons" "My Neighbor" "A Crossbreed" "The Cares of a Family Man"
1917–1923	"The Refusal" "A Hunger Artist" "Investigations of a Dog" "A Little Woman" "The Burrow" "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk" "A Common Confusion" "The Truth about Sancho Panza" "The Silence of the Sirens" "Prometheus" "The City Coat of Arms" "Poseidon" "Fellowship" "At Night" "The Problem of Our Laws" "The Conscription of Troops" "The Test" "The Vulture" "The Helmsman" "The Top" "A Little Fable" "Homecoming" "First Sorrow" "The Departure" "Advocates" "The Married Couple" "Give It Up!" "On Parables"