The Franz Kafka Prize is an international literary award presented in honour of Franz Kafka, the Jewish, Bohemian, German-language novelist. The prize was first awarded in 2001 and is co-sponsored by the Franz Kafka Society and the city of Prague, Czech Republic.
| Franz Kafka Prize | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Czech Republic |
| Presented by | Franz Kafka Society |
| Reward(s) | $10,000 |
| First awarded | 2001 |
| Website | www.franzkafka-soc.cz |
Award information and history
At a presentation held annually in the Old Town Hall (Prague), the recipient receives $10,000, a diploma, and a bronze statuette.[1] Each award is often called the "Kafka Prize" or "Kafka Award".
The award earned some prestige in the mid 2000s by foreshadowing the Nobel Prize when two of its winners went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year, Elfriede Jelinek (2004) and Harold Pinter (2005).[2]
The criteria for winning the award include the artwork's "humanistic character and contribution to cultural, national, language [sic] and religious tolerance, its existential, timeless character, its generally human validity and its ability to hand over [sic] a testimony about our times."[3]
Award winners
Previous winners.[4]
| Year | Picture | Winner | Nationality | Language(s) | Genre(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ||||||
| 2021 |  | Ivan Vyskočil (1929–2023) |  Czech Republic | Czech | novel, drama | [5] |
| 2020 |  | Milan Kundera (1929–2023) |  France/ Czech Republic | French/Czech | novel, short story, poetry, essay, drama | [6] |
| 2019 |  | Pierre Michon (1945–) | France | French | novel, short story | |
| 2018 |  | Ivan Wernisch (1942–) | Czech Republic | Czech | poetry, translation | [7] |
| 2017 |  | Margaret Atwood (1939–) |  Canada | English | poetry, novel, short story, literary criticism, essay | [8] |
| 2016 |  | Claudio Magris (1939–) |  Italy | Italian | essay, translation, novel, short story | [9] |
| 2015 | .jpg) | Eduardo Mendoza (1943–) |  Spain | Spanish | novel, short story, drama, essay | [10] |
| 2014 |  | Yan Lianke (1958–) |  China | Chinese | novel, short story | [11] |
| 2013 | _(cropped).jpg) | Amos Oz (1939–2018) |  Israel | Hebrew | novel, short story, essay | [12][13] |
| 2012 |  | Daniela Hodrová (1946–) | Czech Republic | Czech | novel | [2] |
| 2011 | _III.jpg) | John Banville (1945–) |  Ireland | English | novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essay | [14] |
| 2010 |  | Václav Havel (1936–2011) | Czech Republic | Czech | poetry, drama, essay | [15] |
| 2009 |  | Peter Handke (1942–) |  Austria | German | novel, poetry, essay, short story, screenplay, drama | |
| 2008 |  | Arnošt Lustig (1926–2011) | Czech Republic | Czech | novel, short story, drama, screenplay | [16] |
| 2007 | .jpg) | Yves Bonnefoy (1923–2016) | France | French | poetry, essay, translation, short story, history | [17] |
| 2006 | .jpg) | Haruki Murakami (1949–) |  Japan | Japanese | novel, short story, essay, memoirs | [18] |
| 2005 |  | Harold Pinter (1930–2008) |  United Kingdom | English | drama, screenplay | |
| 2004 |  | Elfriede Jelinek (1946–) | Austria | German | novel, poetry, drama, translation | |
| 2003 |  | Péter Nádas (1942–) |  Hungary | Hungarian | drama, essay, novel | [19] |
| 2002 | .jpg) | Ivan Klíma (1931–) | Czech Republic | Czech | novel, drama, memoirs | [20] |
| 2001 |  | Philip Roth (1933–2018) |  United States | English | novel, short story, memoirs, essay | |