A BULGARIAN AUTHOR WINS EU PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

The Bulgarian writer, Milen Ruskov, received the EU Prize for Literature for 2014 in Brussels. He won the award for his book “Summit”.

In the book, the author goes back to Turkish-ruled Bulgaria. The year is 1872, a feverish period of revolutionary committees, raids on Turkish cash-convoys, brigand freedom fighters and a quest for knowledge and identity, known in history as the Bulgarian Revival. This is a time of passionate self-education and allegiance to the great cause of ridding Bulgaria of its oppressors. The pretentious pomp of revolutionary ideals is filtered through the consciousness of two lads, the earnest semi-educated Gicho and his credulous kleptomaniac companion Assen. They set out armed with guns and books from the town of Kotel to join a band of brigand-revolutionaries in the mountains.

Their characters reflect a mixture of down to earth brigand ruthlessness and revolutionary idealism, while their adventures form a rich comic pageant, enlivened by Gicho’s well-meaning attempts to educate his companion. Once they have joined the brigand band, they take part in the robbery of a Turkish tax-wagon convoy at the Arabakonak Pass – an event that marks the turning point in their tragicomic adventures.

This robbery, notorious in Bulgarian history, provoked an effective and harsh reaction from the usually corruptible Turkish authorities, leading to mass arrests and the crushing of the Internal Revolutionary Organization. Our two characters, encircled in the mountains by the Turkish army, now face a dilemma which puts their personalities to the test. They make different choices, but both meet the same end.

Apart from RUSKOV, other winners of the 2014 EU Prize for Literature are: Ben BLUSHI (Albania), Jan NĚMEC (Czech Republic), Makis TSITAS (Greece), Oddný EIR (Iceland), Janis JONEVS (Latvia), Armin ÖHRI (Liechtenstein), Pierre J. MEJLAK (Malta), Ognjen SPAHIĆ (Montenegro), Marente DE MOOR (The Netherlands), Uglješa ŠAJTINAC (Serbia), Birgül OĞUZ (Turkey) and Evie WYLD (The United Kingdom).

The winners, nominated by national juries, receive € 5,000 and will be given priority to receive EU translation grants through the support programme for Europe's cultural and creative sectors, Creative Europe.

The aim of the European Prize for Literature is to put the spotlight on the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literature in the field of fiction, to promote the circulation of literature within Europe and encourage greater interest in non-national literary works.

The awards were presented by Mr Tibor Navracsics, the Commissioner in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.

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