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The Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage has been given annually since 2003 for the best texts in the genre of literary
reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the journalist, occupa ...
, which must have been first published during the previous two years. The award was initiated by
Lettre International ''Lettre International'' is the title of a number of cultural magazines published in various languages in Europe. The history of ''Lettre International'' dates back to 1984, the year that the original French edition (''Lettre Internationale'') fir ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, and is organized by the Foundation Lettre International Award, a joint partnership between Lettre International and the
Aventis Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Sy ...
Foundation. The Goethe-Institut also cooperates with the project. A polyglot jury of experienced writers representing eleven of the major linguistic regions of the world seeks the best international texts in the genre and decides on a shortlist of seven, eventually choosing three winners from among them. The members of the jury are appointed by the organizer. In addition, an advisory committee of distinguished writers lends its moral and intellectual backing to the Lettre Ulysses Award. Members of the committee have included Günter Grass, the German writer and winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Polish reportage author
Ryszard Kapuściński Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in bo ...
, the French ethnologist Jean Malaurie, and the Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich. The Lettre Ulysses Award is the first world prize in the reportage genre. The initiave ended in 2007, after the contract between the Foundation Lettre International Award and the Aventis Foundation ended and the foundation did not succeed in finding a new partner.


Award ceremony and prizes

The prize winners are announced at a public award ceremony in Berlin on the Saturday before the opening of the international
Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...
. The winners of the first, second and third prizes are given cash awards amounting to $50,000, $30,000 and US$20,000, respectively. Residencies in Berlin are awarded to the other four finalists.


Mission

The Lettre Ulysses Award aims to:


Nomination and selection process

The jury is composed of writers and journalists who work within the reportage genre. Their conference language is English, but they are native speakers drawn from the world's largest linguistic regions and as such guarantee the broadest possible language base. Each jury member is able to make up to two nominations for the award. Although it is likely that jury members will nominate from their own language group, in practice they can nominate works written in whichever languages they read. The composition of the jury and the languages represented are subject to partial annual change. Each jury member justifies his or her nominations in a written proposal accompanied by extracts of each text. These are, if necessary, translated into English and sent out to each jury member. Following the nominations, the first jury meeting is held. The number of nominees is reduced and a shortlist is drawn up after discussions centering on the criteria: relevance of subject; originality; complexity; credibility and authenticity; structure; language and style; and whatever other elements make a particular work outstanding. The shortlist contains seven texts. These texts are then translated in their entirety, if necessary, and sent to all jury members. The final decisions are made after all candidate texts have been entirely and thoroughly read by each and every jury member.


Past winners


2003

* 1st prize.
Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...
, ''Tchétchénie: le déshonneur russe'', (Buchet/Chastel, Paris, 2003). * 2nd prize.
Nuruddin Farah Nuruddin Farah ( so, Nuuradiin Faarax, ar, نورالدين فارح) (born 24 November 1945) is a Somali novelist. His first novel, ''From a Crooked Rib'', was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East ...
, ''Yesterday Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora'', (Continuum International, London, New York, 2000). * 3rd prize. Jiang Hao, ''Revealing the Secrets of Poachers'', (Qunzhong chubansche, Beijing, 2000).


2004

* 1st prize. Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao, ''Survey of Chinese Peasants'', (People's Literature Publication Company, Beijing 2003). * 2nd prize.
Tracy Kidder John Tracy Kidder (born November 12, 1945) is an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his '' The Soul of a New Machine'' (1981), about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. He has recei ...
, '' Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World'', (Random House, New York, 2003). * 3rd prize. Daniel Bergner, ''Soldiers of Light'' (Allen Lane/Penguin, London, 2004).


2005

* 1st prize. Alexandra Fuller, ''Scribbling the Cat. Travels with an African Soldier'', (Penguin Press, New York, 2004). * 2nd prize. Abdellah Hammoudi, ''Une saison à la Mecque. Récit de pèlerinage'', (Seuil, Paris, 2004) Season in Mecca. Account of a Pilgrimage * 3rd prize. Riverbend, ''Baghdad Burning. Girl Blog from Iraq'', (The Feminist Press, New York, 2005. Published in the UK by Marion Boyars Publishers, London, 2005).


2006

* 1st prize.
Linda Grant Linda Grant (born 15 February 1951) is an English novelist and journalist. Early life Linda Grant was born in Liverpool. She was the oldest child of Benny Ginsberg, a businessman who made and sold hairdressing products, and Rose Haft; both p ...
, ''The People on the Street. A Writer’s View of Israel'', (Virago Press, London, 2006). * 2nd prize.
Érik Orsenna Érik Orsenna is the pen-name of Érik Arnoult (born 22 March 1947) a French politician and novelist. After studying philosophy and political science at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris ("Sciences Po"), Orsenna specialized in economic ...
, ''Voyage aux pays du coton. Petit précis de mondialisation'', (Fayard, Paris, 2006) ourney to the Lands of Cotton. A Brief Manual of Globalisation * 3rd prize.
Juanita León Juanita León García (born 1970) is a Colombian journalist, writer, and public speaker. She is best known as the founder and director of the news website '' La Silla Vacía''. Biography León obtained a law degree at the University of the An ...
,{{cite web , url=http://www.lettre-ulysses-award.org/authors06/leon.html , title=Lettre Ulysses Award | Juanita León, Colombia ''País de plomo. Crónicas de guerra'', (Aguilar, 2005) ountry of Bullets. War Diaries


See also

*
Reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the journalist, occupa ...
* Creative nonfiction *
New Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non- ...
*
Lettre International ''Lettre International'' is the title of a number of cultural magazines published in various languages in Europe. The history of ''Lettre International'' dates back to 1984, the year that the original French edition (''Lettre Internationale'') fir ...
(Berlin)


References


External links


Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage — official site

''Lettre International'' (Berlin) — official site


Journalism awards Awards established in 2003 German literary awards