The Cultural Services of the Ministry of Culture announce the results of the competition for the State Literature Awards for publications for the year 2021:
1. Poetry:
The State Poetry Prize for Publications for the year 2021, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Maria Kant (Kantonidou) for her work Stanza (Gutenberg Publications).
Award citation:
The collection consists of mostly prose-like texts, which nevertheless do not lack rhythm and musical pacing. These are poems full of expressionistic, often hyperrealistic performances, self-referential depth, associations and intertextual references to other poems and authors. The pervasive mood of sadness, the dominant emotional tone of the collection, is balanced in many poems with a light-hearted irony. The poetic texts are arranged in seven sections, have as their main themes love, death, wandering, nostalgia, and converse harmoniously with the black and white photographs (signed by the poet). It is a multimodal dialogue of poetry and image, in the context of which, on the one hand, the photographs take on a functional and not merely decorative character, while, on the other hand, the descriptive "images" inherent in the texts are intensified and presented as parts of a setting. This poetic setting frames mental dialogues with faces that are not hypostatized, like immersions in the realm of individual memory.
List of prevailing works (alphabetically) in the category Poetry:
- Kant (Kantonidou) Maria, Stanza (Gutenberg Publications)
- Lilly Dawn, On the Edge of a Tail (Thraka Publications)
- Makridou Cleopatra, The echo of memory (Mandragora Publications)
- Michaelides Marios, The echo of memory (Nikas Publications)
- Balasopoulos Antonis, The book of creatures (Shakespearean Publications)
2. Novel
The State Novel Prize for publications of the year 2021, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Kostas Libburis for his work Athalassa (To Rodakio publications).
Award cover:
A bold fictional look at the daily life of the Athalassa Psychiatric Hospital during the turbulent decade 1964-1974 with an emphasis on the problems of the inmates' microsociety (love and friendships, good and evil) and their "oblique" look at the dramatic external historical events before the bombing of the institution by the Turkish Air Force. At the centre of the narrative is the incarceration in the Psychiatric Institution of a teacher who, pretending to be a mental patient, goes there voluntarily sacrificing his personal life and freedom to solve the enigma of his incarcerated lover's sudden and mysterious mental disorder. The author succeeds in portraying vivid characters, with psychographic representativeness, by occasionally observing the idiosyncratic drama of the incarcerated and their families. This is a difficult, multi-layered project about love, personal choices and sacrifice, responsibility, freedom, love of country, politics, violence and war; all through the eyes of the charismatic teacher. Drawing on sources and evidence, the narrative depicts a dark world, but one from which hope and humanity are never completely extinguished.
List of top works (alphabetically) in the category Novel
- Antoniadis Andreas, Uncle Kostakis and Rita Hayworth: A Trilogy (Bacchicon Publications)
- Antoniadis Doros, Kehribari (Kastaniotis Publications)
- Lympouris Kostas, Athalassa (To Rodakios Publications)
- Margaritis Kyriakos, Nine (Ikaros Publications)
- Charalambous-Pavtinou Evangelia, Katakalokairo (The Purple Squirrel Publications)
3. Short Story/Novel
The State Prize for Short Story/Novel for publications in 2021, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Antonis Balasopoulos for his work The Cube and other stories (24 Grams publications).
Award citation:
The collection consists of short, generally abstract, sometimes fragmentary short stories. Yet despite their apparent fragmentation, these interconnected parabolic and allegorical narratives constitute a solid unity, full of conflicting mirrors, mirror images and self-referential twists that trace the evolution and transformations of the same narrative voice: from the "naivety" of the first contact with the Cosmos (the side of wonder), through gradual apprenticeship (the side of worldly knowledge and the side of heavenly knowledge), they are directed to mature consciousness and self-referential "revelation of the artifice" (the side of the voice and the side of the end). The imaginary, the poetic conception of reality, the cruelty of the world, life and the ego, art and writing, in a multimodal cubist composition. In the narrative miniatures of the collection (in which the dramatic economy is balanced with sensitivity and conviction) the author shows his ability to narrate through the child's gaze and, by extension, the child's imagination, and to transform the uncanny into the familiar.
List of shortlisted works (alphabetically) in the category Short Story/Novel:
- Veriti Chloe, Kaleidoscope: Theatrical Narratives (Dodoni Publications)
- Dionysiou Nasia, What is a Campos (Polis Publications)
- Balasopoulos Antonis, The Cube and other stories (24 Grams Publications)
- Najarian Nora, The sea will be a little rough (Armida publications)
- Nicolaidou Hadjipieri Chrystallini, The Rapture of Angelou (Mikrokyklos publications)
4. Essay / Study
The State Prize for Study (Monograph)/Edition for Literature, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Vasiliki Selioti for her work Literature and Trauma. 1974 in Cypriot and Hellenic literature (Epikentro publications)
Award citation:
The study is a comparative and interdisciplinary project based on the trauma of 1974. The author starts from a reference point of public and private life during the last fifty years: the confluence of historical events that culminated in the coup and the Turkish invasion. It explores how and how these events had a transformative effect on consciences and how the traumatic experiences (with different intensity and extent in Cyprus and Greece) were transformed into literary discourse, poetry, short stories and novels. How different generations of writers and writers of different genders responded to the memory of trauma. Did the experiences transmuted into literature have a healing effect on the mental constitution of the subjects (writers and readers) or, on the contrary, did they preserve the traumatic memory? The focus of the study is on his collective trauma and his enduring presence in public life. Starting from the literary depictions of the Cypriot drama in Greek and Greek Cypriot literature (testimonies, poetry, prose), as well as the response of different generations to it, the researcher supervises with completeness and parameters a complex material, which spans various areas: issues of identity, memory, space and time, and the gendered experience of trauma.
List of Preferred Works (alphabetically) in the category Study (Monograph)/ Essay on Literature:
- Andzoulis Andreas, Dionysios Solomos. Conceptual perception and representation of the High in the work of maturity. A new reading of the manuscript codices with Nikolaos Loudzis' translations of Solomos (Iambos publications)
- Aristodimou Troodia, Poetry and Metamorphosis: Sense of myth and history in the work of Kyriakos Charalambidis(Herodotus Publications)
- Vasiliki Selioti, Literature and Trauma. 1974 in Cypriot and Hellenic literature (Epikentro Publications)
- Hamali Maria, American Drama and the Greek Stage (1931-1965): Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller (Sokolis Publications)
5. Young Writer's Prize
The State Prize for Young Writer, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Michalis Mavrotheris for his work Black Sea (Havra Publications).
Award synopsis:
An experimental narrative, a child's journey of survival, initiation and coming of age following a man in the aftermath of a massive cultural catastrophe. The narrative displays many allusions from the historical past and at the same time reductions to a dystopian indeterminate future; a fantasy world with contact with alien beings. The narrative modes are also varied and intricately interwoven: dialogue, echomimetic phonemes, erased parts of the written word, emphasis on the qualities of the characters (the man, the child, etc.) and at the same time undermining their expected stereotypical characteristics (the child's harsh reaction, etc.). The anarchic narrative depicts a fragmented world, like an electronic game platform, with no specific beginning and no possibility of an end (the coordination of the typographical form of the book with its content is interesting from this point of view). It is a bold attempt to experiment with the fictional genre of futuristic dystopia, which is not so common in our literature. The author draws freely from literary and cinematic versions, as well as from pop culture, and manages to represent a dilapidated post-industrial world, suggesting at the level of associations parallels with our own and implicitly criticizing contemporary political and social problems.
List of shortlisted works (alphabetically) in the category Young Writer's Prize:
- Antoniadou Marilena, Aposiopoetics (Chronos Publications)
- Dimitriou Petros, Congo: Samurai in houses with roofs (Pigi publications)
- Zacharias Konstantinos, Purity & sin (Pigi publications)
- Mavrotheris Michalis, Black Sea (Havra Publications)
- Biou Stavroula, Iris bloody (Armida Publications)
The Jury of the 2021 State Literature Awards was composed of:
Pantelis Voutouris (Chairman), Alexis Ziras, Mary Koutselini, Aristotle Sainis and Ilia Hadjipanagioti.
6. Literature for Young Children
The State Prize for Literature for Young Children for publications of the year 2021, following the unanimous decision of the Jury, is awarded to Chrysothemida Papakonstantinou for her work My Grandfather is from... Kythrea (published by the Municipality of Kythrea).
Award cover:
In the illustrated book My Grandfather is from... Kythrea, written by Chrysothemis Papakonstantinou and illustrated by Christina Karekla, little Ariadne shares her grandfather's memories of his happy childhood in the region of Kythrea, describing with fidelity and lyricism the life before the refugee exile. The book, published by the Municipality of Kythrea, deeply true and doubly nostalgic, towards a distant homeland and a lost childhood, reveals the role of memory in the construction of identity. The book My grandfather is from... Kythrea is a genuine picture book, since the meaning is constituted not only by the words but also by the images, which are distinguished by their narrative quality. Through strongly syncretic compositions, the illustrations allow the granddaughter to share her grandfather's precious experiences in the land of Kythrea, despite the fact that she was born many years after the invasion. Besides, the format of the book, which resembles a wall calendar, underlines the importance of time, which, although it has passed, still defines reality in a much more intimate and meaningful way.
List of favourite works (alphabetically) in the category Literature for Young Children:
- Basques Hajilyra Penelope, Carolina Eats the Seasons (Astaman Publications)
- Irakleous Despina, The letters are to blame (Kaleidoscope Publications)
- Kouppanou Anna, Phoebus and the whale (Patakis Publications)
- Papakonstantinou Chrysothemis, My grandfather is from... Kythrea (Municipality of Kythrea)
- Papachristoforu Alexia, The Wish of Marina (Dot Publications)
7. Literature for Older Children and Adolescents
The State Prize for Literature for Older Children and Adolescents for publications of the year 2021, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Andri Antoniou for her work Photographs on a Black Background (Patakis Publications).
Award abstract:
Adris Antoniou's book Photos on a Black Background focuses on the deeply traumatised psyche of sixteen-year-old Amalia, who at the age of eight experienced sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's partner. In a claustrophobic, non-linear narrative, the wounded teenager of today constantly encounters her eight-year-old self, reliving the nightmares of her past. Moving alongside her are a series of disparate figures; inadequate parents, absent peers and little Orpheus, the only one who seems to be able to pull her out of the grim darkness of her own Hades. In addition to the book's particularly interesting and daring subject matter, which is likely to spark discussions between teens and adults, its very positive elements include the power of a fragmented writing that attempts to manage post-traumatic stress, the structure of the narrative, the book's high aesthetic, and the interiority with which the tragedy of a rape is presented, leaving indelible scars on the soul and body.
List of shortlisted works (alphabetically) in the category Literature for Young Children and Adolescents[/U]:
- Antoniou Andri, Photos on a Black Background (Patakis Publications)
- Theofanous Theofanis, With a Look and a Kiss! (Alati Publications)
- Pafiti Ismeni, June in the Castle of Menda (Ano Teλεία Publications)
- Sergis Antonis, Pablo: A canvas of memories (Psychogios Publications)
The Jury of the 2021 State Literature Awards for Children and Adolescents consisted of:
Angeliki Giannikopoulou (President), Angela Kaimaklioti, Rebecca Nicolaidou-Pieri, Mariza Decastro and Yannis Papadatos.
8. Prize for Literary Book Illustration for Children and Adolescents
The State Prize for Literary Book Illustration for Children and Adolescents for publications of the year 2021, following a majority decision of the Jury, is awarded to Chryso Charalambous for the illustration of the work We have the same mum: Stories from Gatuhan (author: Stella Michaelidou, Kaleidoscope Publications)
Award citation:
The illustrations in this book are unusual and closely connected to the story. The illustrations are wonderfully spaced. The details in each picture refer to specific moments in the story, so that the tale lends itself to repeated reading and listening. The references to puppetry - floating pictures - reinforce the idea of a fairy tale being told within a fairy tale the idea that the cats have many different costumes and names flows beautifully through the pictures. The images seem to have been created with joy, they are funny and even full of mischief. Chryso Charalambous' illustrations pay attention to the specific characteristic details of the individuals and the care for this is perceived in various ways: colour, size, gesture, posture. A wide range of tones, textures and value are placed on a light white background combined with simple typography. Highly effective contrasts are created between visual techniques, including sharp edges and gesture lines, graphic sculptures and stencils. Although not exactly a handmade set of images, these still give the feeling of being handmade creations, they are warm, friendly and appealing. The print execution is excellent: the technique chosen by the illustrator anticipates any publication restrictions.
List of top works (alphabetically) in the Children's and Teenage Literary Book Illustration[/U] category:
- Got some time? (author: Sophia Darzali, illustrator: Sandra Eleftheriou) (Metaichmio publications)
- The teacher hates me! (author: Sandra Eleftheriou, illustrator: Sandra Eleftheriou) (Metamichmi publications)
- Kounoops, the wretched mosquito (author: Nikolina Drakou, illustrator: Stelios Efstathiou) (Nayilia publications)
- We have the same mum: Stories from Gatuhan (author: Stella Michailidou, illustrator: Chryso Charalambous) (Kaleidoscope Publications)
- Carolina eats the seasons (author: Penelope Vasquez Hadjilyra, illustrator: Chryso Charalambous) (Astaman Publications)
The Jury of the 2021 State Book Illustration Awards for Children and Adolescents was made up of the following:
Konstantinos Georgiou (President), Elizabeth Hoak-Doering, Teresa Lambriano, Kostas Mantzalos, Savvas Xinaris
The awards will be presented by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Mr. Yannis Toumazis, at a special ceremony, which will take place on 7 December 2022, at 7:00 pm, at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre. Entrance will be free of charge.
(NΓ/EXP)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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