The European Literature Prize 2015 goes to Een handvol sneeuw (The End of Days) by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated into Dutch by Elly Schippers. This was announced today in the radio programme Opium on 4 by Margot Dijkgraaf, chairwoman of the jury. The prize awards both author and translator of the winning novel, the author receives €10.00 and the translator €5.000.
The public award ceremony will take place on Saturday the 5th of September at 12:30 during Manuscripta - the traditional opening of the book season - at the Cityfestival Zwolle. Both laureates will be present. This will be the second international award that Erpenbeck receives for Aller Tage Abend; in May she received the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for the English translation (by Susan Bernofsky), The End of Days. With Een handvol sneeuw translator Elly Schippers was nominated for the European Literature Prize for the fifth time. Previous nominations included titles by Charles Lewinsky and Edgar Hilsenrath.
Six novels were nominated for the shortlist of the European Literature Prize 2015.
The European Literature Prize will be presented in 2015 for the fifth time, recognizing the best contemporary novel translated from a European language into Dutch in the previous year. Previously the prize went to Drie sterke vrouwen (Trois femmes puissantes) by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jeanne Holierhoek, Alsof het voorbij is (The Sense of an Ending) by Julian Barnes, translated from the English by Ronald Vlek, Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère translated from the French by Katelijne de Vuyst and Katrien Vandenberghe and De preek over de val van Rome (Le sermon sur la chûte de Rome) by Jérôme Ferrari, translated from the French by Jan Pieter van der Sterre and Reintje Ghoos.
The European Literature Prize is an initiative of the Academic-Cultural Centre Spui25, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer and Athenaeum Boekhandel. The prize is supported by the Lira Foundation, the De Lancey and de la Hanty Foundation and Dutch Foundation for Literature.
More information on the European Literature Prize and its 2015 laureates may be found in:
