What is the EUPL?

The aim of the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) 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 to encourage greater interest in non-national literary works.

The works of the selected winners (one per country participating in the Prize on a rotation basis) will reach a wider and international audience, and touch readers beyond national and linguistic borders.

The Prize is financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, which aims to achieve three main goals: to promote cross-border mobility of those working in the cultural sector; to encourage the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic output; and to foster intercultural dialogue.

The consortium selected by the European Commission to coordinate the initiative is composed by the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), the European Writers' Council (EWC) and the Federation of European Publishers (FEP). These three members are jointly responsible for the setting up of the national juries and the practical organisation of the award ceremony.

The Prize competition is open to the 41 countries currently involved in the Creative Europe programme. Each year, national juries in a third of the participating countries nominate their winning authors, making it possible for all countries and language areas to be represented over a three-year cycle.

The first three-year cycle was completed in 2009-2011, the second cycle in 2012-2014, the third cycle in 2015-2017.

In 2018, EUPL celebrated its tenth Anniversary with a writing contest open to all previous 108 winners. 36 former EUPL laureates from 26 different countries answered the call. 5 authors were awarded in 4 different categories (Professional jury, public, Members of the European Parliament and special mention for the European Year of Cultural Heritage) for the quality of the short story they produced for the contest.

2019 marked the beginning of the fourth three-year cycle, which will be completed in 2021.