The Yasnaya Polyana award program has opened its call for applications, with submissions starting on February 7. The announcement comes from the head of the prize’s jury, as reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and the information is attributed to Vladimir Tolstoy, the cultural adviser to the President of Russia.
Entries are accepted through March 20, 2023, and eligibility spans publishers, major literary journals, author associations, and past laureates. Tolstoy noted that the prize marked a significant milestone in 2022, celebrating its twentieth anniversary. He highlighted that the organizers have assessed the midterm outcomes of an ambitious and successful project, and with continued momentum, a new phase has begun in the life of one of Russia’s most esteemed literary awards.
Looking ahead to the new season, the prize will recognize excellence in two categories: Event of the Year and Personality of the Year. Tolstoy also introduced a fresh initiative to acknowledge works that may have been overlooked by critics long ago, calling these pieces Lost Masterpieces. The overarching aim is to make literary texts accessible to readers regardless of the time of their creation, ensuring that deserving works find their audience at last.
The Yasnaya Polyana Literary Prize for 2022 was awarded to Dmitry Danilov, marking a notable moment in the prize’s ongoing legacy and its mission to celebrate enduring contributions to Russian literature.