ELKOST International literary agency - MEMORIAL International awarded the 2021 JAN MICHALSKI PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

The Jan Michalski Prize for Literature 2021 has been awarded to Memorial International, Alena Kozlova, Nikolai Mikhailov, Irina Ostrovskaya and Irina Scherbakova for the collective work Знак не сотрется. Судьбы остарбайтеров в письмах, воспоминаниях и устных рассказах (Мемориа́л, 2016) translated from Russian to English under the title OST: Letters, Memoirs and Stories from Ostarbeiter in Nazi Germany (Granta, 2021).

The jury commended “the hard work by the Russian non-government organisation, Memorial International, that went into restoring the historical truth through this reference book documenting the destiny of millions of Ostarbeiter, and accomplishes the complex task of preserving oral history from obliteration and misappropriation. By providing a written record of the voices of civil society in a situation where history is rewritten according to political context, the work OST creates an essential memorial for the future of our society which must preserve the memories and use them well in order to confront their current challenges."

For details, see

in English: Jan_Michalski_Prize_2021_PRESS_RELEASE.pdf

in French: Prix_Jan_Michalski_de_littérature_2021_DOSSIER_DE_PRESSE.pdf

Chik and His Friends, collected novellas by Fazil Iskander (1971, 1983)

Published by: Italy - Edizioni e/o (1989), Turkey - Dünya Kitapları (2004), USA - Ardis (1985)

Thoroughly enjoyable stories about a boy growing up in Stalin-era Abkhazia. Iskander's child psychology feels wonderfully flawless as he describes Chik's joys, fears, and annoyances.

Culture and Explosion by Yuri Lotman (NF)

Rights sold: Czech Republic - HOST, Spain - GEDISA

Originally published in Russian in 1992, a year before Lotman's death, Culture and Explosion puts forth a fundamental theory: the semiotics of culture. Proceeding from a model of communication, Lotman extends the work of the renowned Tartu-Moscow school that he founded, showing not only how culture can be observed and described, but also how it can be governed and guided. In fact, as Lotman demonstrates with copious examples, the modelling system of culture has an immeasurably strong influence on the way that humans experience "reality". As usual, Lotman's erudition is brought to bear on the theory of culture, and the book comprises a host of well-chosen illustrations from history, literature, art and right across the humanities.

MEMORIAL International awarded the 2021 JAN MICHALSKI PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

Featured titles

Chik and His Friends, collected novellas by Fazil Iskander (1971, 1983)

Culture and Explosion by Yuri Lotman (NF)