OTS: Four books emerging from Literary Residencies receive the Visegrad...

OTS: Four books emerging from Literary Residencies receive the Visegrad Literary Award

Bratislava, 17 June (TASR/OTS) – The International Visegrad Fund has awarded the Visegrad Literary Award for the first time. The prize was granted to four books by authors from the Visegrad Group countries who participated in the Visegrad Literary Residencies programme.

The award builds on the Visegrad Literary Residency Programme, which since 2012 has become one of the International Visegrad Fund’s most significant tools for supporting cross-border creative exchange. Over the years, it has enabled more than 400 writers and translators from the Visegrad countries to work, meet, and develop their projects in inspiring settings across the region.

The programme was established as a joint initiative of the International Visegrad Fund and the Polish Villa Decius Association, which coordinates the programme, in cooperation with the Czech Literary Centre, the Slovak Literary Centre, and the Petőfi Literary Museum.

The winning books were selected through an open call. More than 80 titles were submitted, with national committees conducting the initial evaluation and selecting 12 nominations for consideration by an international jury. Each laureate received financial support for the translation of their work into another language.

The laureates are:

– Czechia: Alena Machoninová – Hella (Maraton, 2023)

– Hungary: Róbert Milbacher – Keserű víz (Magvető Kiadó, 2023)

– Poland: Paweł Pieniążek – Wojna w moim domu (Znak Literanova, 2025)

– Slovakia: Ivana Gibová – Babička (Vlna, 2023)

“The Visegrad Literary Award naturally builds on the achievements of authors from the Visegrad region who have succeeded, in part, thanks to the Visegrad Literary Residency Programme. The programme provides them with the time and space needed for focused creative work and for deeper immersion in the stories and characters they create. It delivers tangible results, and we are pleased to share them with readers in English and German speaking countries,” said Linda Kapustová Helbichová, Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund.

According to Dominika Kasprowicz of the Villa Decius Association, “The Visegrad Literary Award was created to make the voice of Central European literature resonate more strongly.”

The Visegrad Literary Award recognises the creative achievements of authors and translators. Many of them have enriched their work with award-winning publications developed during their stay within the Visegrad Literary Residency Programme.

The International Visegrad Fund is an international organisation established by the governments of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries—Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Its mission is to foster closer cooperation and mutual understanding among citizens within the V4 region, as well as between the V4 and other regions, such as the countries of the so-called Eastern Partnership countries and the Western Balkans. For twenty-six years, the Visegrad Fund has been contributing to the development of civil society by financing joint grant projects, awarding scholarships, and providing mobility opportunities for artists. Its annual budget of €11 million is equally funded by the governments of the V4 countries. To date, the Fund has supported more than 11,000 grant projects and individual mobility initiatives, with a total funding amount exceeding €150 million.

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