The Nike Literary Award ( pl, Nagroda Literacka „Nike") is a

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ...

awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

. Established in 1997 and funded by ''

Gazeta Wyborcza ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...

'',

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

's second largest

daily paper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports an ...

, and the consulting company NICOM, it is conferred annually in October. It is open for nominees from all

literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided in ...

s, including non-fiction essays and autobiographies. Each year, a nine-member jury selects the laureate in a three-stage process. Twenty official nominees are accepted in May, out of which seven finalists are declared in September. The final decision does not take place until the day of the award ceremony in October. The award consists of a statuette referring to the Greek goddess

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

, designed by the prominent Polish sculptor Kazimierz Gustaw Zemła, and a cash prize of currently PLN 100,000 (ca. $25,000). In addition to the main jury award, there is an audience award based on the outcome of a vote on the seven official finalists conducted by ''Gazeta Wyborcza''. The verdicts of the audience and jury have converged only occasionally (2000, 2001, 2004, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021). Two laureates of the award have been awarded the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation ...

(1980) and

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...

(2018). Tokarczuk and

Wiesław Myśliwski Wiesław Myśliwski (born 25 March 1932 in Dwikozy, near Sandomierz) is a Polish novelist. Biography He was born to a middle class family and raised in Ćmielów, where his father had participated in the Polish-Soviet War and became a local off ...

are the only individuals to date to have received the Nike Award twice.

Laureates

Title and details of English translation stated where available.

Jury award

Audience award

Most nominations (1997–2022)

* 10 nominations –

Jerzy Pilch Jerzy Pilch (; 10 August 1952 – 29 May 2020) was a Polish writer, columnist, and journalist. Critics have compared Pilch's style to Witold Gombrowicz, Milan Kundera, or Bohumil Hrabal. Early life and education Born and raised in the smal ...

* 9 nominations –

Andrzej Stasiuk Andrzej Stasiuk (pronounced: ; born 25 September 1960 in Warsaw, Poland) is one of the most successful and internationally acclaimed contemporary Polish writers, journalists and literary critics. He is best known for his travel literature and ess ...

* 7 nominations –

Tadeusz Różewicz Tadeusz Różewicz (9 October 1921 – 24 April 2014) was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of f ...

* 6 nominations –

Julia Hartwig Julia Hartwig-Międzyrzecka (14 August 1921 – 14 July 2017) was a Polish writer, poet and translator, considered to be one of Poland's most important poets. Life and career She was born and raised in Lublin. She studied Polish and French lite ...

Ewa Lipska Ewa Lipska (born 8 October 1945 in Kraków), is a Polish poet from the generation of the Polish "New Wave." Collections of her verse have been translated into English, Italian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, German and Hungarian. She lives in Vienna and ...

* 5 nominations –

Jacek Dehnel Jacek Maria Dehnel (born 1 May 1980 in Gdańsk, Poland) is a Polish poet, writer, translator and painter. Life and work He graduated from the Stefan Żeromski High School No. 5 in Gdańsk, where he excelled in Humanities. Dehnel studied at t ...

, Piotr Matywiecki,

, Jacek Podsiadło, Ryszard Przybylski, Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Magdalena Tulli * 4 nominations –

Marek Bieńczyk Marek Bieńczyk (Polish pronunciation: ; born 6 July 1956) is a Polish writer, historian of literature, translator, essayist and oenologist. In 2012, he won the Nike Award, Poland's top literary prize, for his collection of essays ''Book of Face ...

, Michał Głowiński, Henryk Grynberg, Ignacy Karpowicz, Urszula Kozioł,

Marcin Świetlicki Marcin Świetlicki (born 24 December 1961) is a Polish poet, writer, and musician. He lives and works in Kraków, Poland. Świetlicki was born in Piaski, near Lublin, Poland. He studied Polish Literature at the Jagiellonian University in Krak� ...

Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki (born 1962) is a Polish poet. Born in Wólka Krowicka near Lubaczów, he is an author of nine volumes of poems and some texts for the magazine ''Kresy''. He has a sister, Wanda Tkaczyszyn, and a nephew named Matthew R ...

, Krzysztof Varga,

Adam Zagajewski Adam Zagajewski (21 June 1945 – 21 March 2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award, the 2017 P ...

* 3 nominations – Justyna Bargielska,

Joanna Bator Joanna Bator (born 2 February 1968) is a Polish novelist, journalist, feminist and academic. She specializes in cultural anthropology and gender studies. She is the recipient of the 2013 Nike Award. Life and career She was born to Jewish paren ...

, Wojciech Bonowicz, Sylwia Chutnik, Włodzimierz Kowalewski, Zbigniew Kruszyński,

Dorota Masłowska Dorota Masłowska (Polish pronunciation:; born 3 July 1983) is a Polish writer, playwright, columnist and journalist. Life and work Masłowska was born in Wejherowo, and grew up there. She applied for the University of Gdańsk's faculty of psy ...

, Joanna Olczak-Roniker, Tomasz Różycki,

Małgorzata Szejnert Małgorzata Szejnert (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 April 1936, Warsaw) is a Polish journalist and writer. Life and career She graduated from the Emilia Plater Girls' High School in Biała Podlaska. She also graduated from the Faculty of J ...

Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szosta gazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 2012-02-11 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent ( ...

, Adam Wiedemann, Michał Witkowski

References

{{Reflist

External links