The EBRD Literature Prize champions the literary richness of our regions of operations, which include almost 40 countries stretching from Morocco to Mongolia, Estonia to Egypt. The Prize also aims to illustrate the importance of literary translation and to introduce the depth and variety of the voices and creativity from these regions to the English-speaking public and a wider global audience.

In order for books to be eligible for the EBRD Literature Prize 2022, the following criteria must be met:

a) The submitted works must consist of books of translated literary fiction (including collections of short stories by a single author) translated into English and written originally in any language — whether official or minority — of an EBRD country of operations by an author who is (or has been) a citizen of an EBRD country of operations.

See the list of EBRD countries of operations eligible for participation in the EBRD Literature Prize.

b) The works may only be submitted by European (including UK) publishers with a valid ISBN and the price printed in the currency of a European country. 

c) The works must not be self-translated and/or self-published.

d) Submissions for the EBRD Literature Prize 2022 may only be made for books translated into English for the first time in the period between 15 November 2020 -14 November 2021

e) The EBRD may at its sole discretion decide to exclude a work from consideration. Such a decision is final.

f) Any individual publisher may not submit more than one book per EBRD country of operations, but may submit a single book from more than one country of operations.  (As an example, a UK publisher may submit one book each from Slovenia, from Croatia and from Albania, but not two from Croatia).

g) The author of the work must be living at the time it is submitted.

h) Entries should be accompanied by a statement giving the date of publication, an e-mail and contact address, as well as a telephone number of the publisher.  The following must also be included:

a. A brief description of the book and plot summary
b. Biographic details of the author and translator
c. A brief statement as to why the book merits consideration.

i) Six copies of each work must be submitted, which will not be returned.

j) The publisher shall agree to sell any work shortlisted for the Prize at a discount of 50% of the recommended retail price to EBRD staff members.

k) The finalists (authors and translators) must agree to participate in the EBRD Literature Prize award ceremony (a digital and/or a physical event at EBRD Headquarters in London, dependent on Covid-19-related travel restrictions in 2022). If there is a physical award ceremony, travel expenses and accommodation will be covered by the EBRD.

l) Download the submission form. If you have any queries, please contact LiteraturePrize@ebrd.com