The Ministry of Culture and Sports has announced the 2022 State Prizes for Literature, Literary Translation and Children’s Books (for the 2021 editions).

The State Literary Awards, an institution of prestige and substance in the field of Letters, constitute the State’s practical recognition of the work and contribution of authors and aim to promote and spread Greek writing and thought and to support Greek book production

In the process, the legislation governing the institution of the State Literary Awards is applied (law 3905/23-12-2010, article 40), and based on this the competent Committees were appointed (Government Gazette 1058/Y.O.D.D./23- 12-2020, Official Gazette 817/Y.O.D.D./01-10-2021, Official Gazette 494/Y.O.D.D./17-06-2022 and Official Gazette 447/Y.O.D.D /12-5-2023), which thoroughly examined the book production of the year 2021.

The Awards are given to creators who have served the Art of Speech with their pen and stood out for the originality of their writing, technique, narrative excellence, aesthetic quality and thematics that promote dialogue on sensitive social issues.

In detail, they are announced today:

I. STATE AWARDS FOR LITERATURE 2022

The Grand Prize of Letters awarded to Maria Laina for her overall contribution to Letters.

The State Prize for Fiction 2022 awarded by a majority to Sotiris Dimitriou for his work Heaven from other places, Pataki publications.

The State Award for Short Story – Novel 2022 awarded by a majority to Nasia Dionysiou for her work What is a plain, Polis editions.

The State Poetry Prize 2022 awarded by a majority to Thanasi Hatzopoulos for his work Under construction flagsPolis publications.

The State Essay – Critique Award 2022 awarded by a majority to Panagi Panagiotopoulos for his work Adventures of the middle class. Sociological records in late postcolonial GreeceEpicenter publications.

The State Award for Testimony – Biography – Chronicle – Travel Literature 2022 it is awarded by a half-way majority to Tasoula Verbeniotis for her work The civilians of the Greek Civil War. The dynamics of memoryKukkida publications, and in Christos Christidisfor his work George Kartaliss, publications of the Hellenic Parliament Foundation.

The Special State Award 2022, for a book that significantly promotes dialogue on sensitive social issues, is awarded by a majority to Hilda Papadimitriou, for her work Guilty until proven guiltyMetaichmio publications.

It is noted that, for the year 2022, the competent Committee unanimously decided not to award State Award for Debut Author up to 35 years and an honorable mention in a literary magazine.

II. STATE PRIZES FOR LITERARY TRANSLATION 2022

The State Award for Translation of a Work of Foreign Literature in Greek Language 2022 is awarded to George Kentrotis, for the translation of his work Georg Trakl, All the PoemsRome publications.

The State Award for Project Performance of Ancient Greek Writing in Modern Greek 2022 awarded to Nikolaos P. Bezandako, for the translation of the work Anthology of ancient Greek erotic literature (Vol. I Poetry & Vol. II Prose), published by the Association for the Distribution of Useful Books.

The State Award for Translation of a Greek Language Work into a Foreign Language 2022 awarded semi-successively to Panos Karagiorgosfor the translation of the work Kostis Palamas/Poetic Anthology, Filyra publications, and to Loïc Marcou, for the translation of Didos Sotiriou’s work, Electra, H & O éditions.

III. STATE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS 2022

The State Children’s Literary Book Award 2022 awarded by a majority to Silver Pippin for the work titled Zaza (illustration by Petros Bouloubasis), Kaleidoscope publications.

The State Award for Adolescent-Young People Literary Book 2022 awarded by a majority to Mano Condoleona for the work titled The Captain’s MaskPataki publications.

The State Award for Illustrated Children’s Book 2022 awarded by a majority to the illustrator Persa Zacharias and to the author Myrto Kalofolia for the work titled A Lonely Case, Kaleidoscope publications.

The State Knowledge Book Award for children 2022 it is awarded by a half-vote majority to Aggeliki Darlasi for the work with the title The big ones…. the little ones: the scientists (illustrated by Sofia Papadopoulou), Metaichmio publications, and to Vasia Exarchou for the work entitled The Cycle of the Cyclades (illustrated by Vasia Exarchou, Dimitris Dourambeis, Annie Dadouki), Kedros publications.

The composition of the competent Committees is recalled:

Committee for the annual Literary Awards and the Grand Prize for Letters, the New Author Award, the Special Topic Award and the Essay-Testimony Awards

  • Alkisti Sofou, Associate Professor of the Modern Hellenic Institute at the Department of Classical Studies of the Sorbonne University, President
  • Sofia-Labrini Denisi, Professor of History and Literary Criticism at the School of Fine Arts, Vice-President
  • Anastasia Natsina, Assistant Professor of Modern Greek Philology at the Department of Philology, University of Crete, Member
  • Dimitris Athinakis, Author, Member
  • Ilias Kafaoglou, Author, Member
  • Andreas Mitsou, Author, Member
  • Nikos Vatopoulos, Critic, Member
  • Kostas Karavidas, Critic, Member
  • Lina Pantaleon, Critic, Member

Committee for the State Prizes for Literary Translation

  • Ioannis Tsolkas, Professor of the History of Italian Literature and European Culture at the Department of Italian Language and Philology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Member of the Department of Philology, Department of Philology), President
  • Vasilios Sambatakakis, Associate Professor of Modern Greek Studies at Lund University (Sweden), President of the European Society for Modern Greek Studies, Modern Hellenist, Vice-President
  • Roubini Dimopoulou, Permanent Assistant Professor of Latin Literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in the Department of Classical Literature of the Department of Philology of the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Member of D.E.P. A.E.I. subject related to Greek history, society or politics), Member
  • Dimitrios Filias, Professor of Literary Translation at the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation & Interpreting of the Ionian University (Member of the D.E.P. A.E.I. academic subject related to translation), Member
  • Moschos Morfakidis-Phylaktos, Professor of Greek Philology at the University of Granada, Director of the Center for Byzantine, Modern Greek and Cypriot Studies, Modern Hellenist, Member
  • Konstantinos Kalfopoulos, Critic, Member
  • Konstantinos Bouras, Critic, Member
  • Maria Kitroeff, Translator, Member
  • Kleanthi-Ismini (Klaiti) Sotiriadou, Translator, Member

Committee for the State Children’s Book Awards

  • Melpomeni (Meni) Kanatsouli, Professor of the Preschool Education and Science Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, President
  • Tasoula Tsilimeni, Professor of the Pedagogical Department of Preschool Education of the University of Thessaly, Author, Vice President
  • Anastasia (Soula) Economidou, Associate Professor of the Science Department of Preschool Education of the Democritus University of Thrace, Member
  • Ioannis Papadatos, Associate Professor of the Department of Preschool Education and Educational Planning of the University of the Aegean, Critic, Member
  • Dimitrios Politis, Associate Professor of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras, Member
  • Zoe Koskinidou, Critic, Member
  • Efstathia (Teti) Solou, Illustrator, Member
  • Prodromos (Makis) Tsitas, Author, Member
  • Achilleas-Alexandros Razis, Illustrator, Member