Just fantastic: Eduard Verkin became the winner of the Big Book Award
On December 3, the jury of the main national literary award "Big Book" announced the winners in fiction and non-fiction literature. They became science fiction writer Eduard Verkin with the novel "The Magpie on the Gallows" and 101-year-old Zoya Boguslavskaya for the memoir "Negligent Life". Each received 3 million rubles and guaranteed marketing support from booksellers. Now, according to the new rules, you can only win the grand prize once. The details are in the Izvestia report.
The Passion of Verkin
While one part of the guests was trying to break into Pashkov's House through the dense ranks of the Russian Guard, the other was betting on the winner. "I'm putting a case of sparkling wine on Verkin's," was heard from one row. "We support it too," others chimed in. "And I don't understand at all how Verkin's works can be called great literature," others argued loudly with them.
According to the new rules of the award, only two laureates were named this year — one in the Fiction category and one in Non-fiction. The official shortlist published by the organizers includes 15 finalists: familiar names, fresh voices, and diverse texts ranging from essays to major novels. According to the regulations, you can only be nominated for a "Big Book" once in each category.
While the work of the counting commission was underway, the presenters — among them actor Mikhail Troinik — read excerpts from the nominees' novels. It was a mixed sight. On the one hand, there was intense anticipation, and some of the readings really blew up the audience with applause. On the other hand, the actors sometimes stumbled over the text, and the audience did not hesitate to go to their phones, waiting for the result. After the announcement of the nominee, the named writer went up on stage and took a seat on a specially placed chair.
— You know, I look at all the nominees and I understand that our TEFI award is much more humane. We have 53 nominations, and everyone wins. And then we'll add five or six more, and everything will be fine. There are only two main winners here now. I have read all the books presented and highly recommend them to everyone," Mikhail Shvydkoi, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, told Izvestia.
Vladimir Grigoriev, Director of the Department of State Support for Periodicals and the Book Industry at the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation, and Mikhail Shvydkoi, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, from left to right, at the XX National Big Book Literary Award Ceremony at the Pashkov House in Moscow
The interim awards were announced before the main moment of the ceremony.
The winners of the popular vote were Vera Bogdanova with the magically poignant book "Seven Ways to Salt Souls" and Elena Levkievskaya with the vivid folklore study "Belarusian Myths. From Mara and the domestic snake to the wolfman and the Evil One." The student jury, as usual, refused to choose "one person" and noted two authors at once: Ilya Kochergin's poignant "Emergency Exit" and Anna Basner's intellectual novel labyrinth "Theseus Paradox".
Writer Vera Bogdanova (right) receives a prize in the Readers' Choice category at the XX National Big Book Literary Award ceremony at the Pashkov House in Moscow.
The Serbian translator Radmila Mechanin was awarded a special prize for her contribution to literature. The award was presented to her by Vladimir Tolstoy, Director General of the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy. Radmila has noted several times that Russia's main asset is in literature. And she asked the writers not to stop creating so that she would have something to translate.
The winner of the newly established "Best Audiobook" nomination was the audio version of Yana Wagner's novel "The Tunnel", released by VIMBO Publishing house, with vivid and accurate readings by Victoria Isakova, Kirill Radzig and the writer herself.
One hundred percent success of Boguslavskaya
Zoya Boguslavskaya deservedly received the first deafening ovation. She became the winner in the Non-fiction category with her memoir Negligent Life. Zoya personally attended the ceremony: she sat in a wheelchair, in an elegant evening dress, with neat hairstyle, makeup and a bouquet of scarlet roses handed to her from the stage. It looked touching and stern at the same time — as a sign of respect for her life and work.
Writer Zoya Boguslavskaya, who won the Non-fiction nomination at the XX National Literary Award ceremony "Big Book" at the Pashkov House in Moscow
It's obviously hard for Zoya Borisovna to speak, but when receiving the award, she said: "Unexpectedly, unexpectedly... Thank you to all the participants, I was very touched." While talking to the press, Boguslavskaya, tired of the long wait, visibly perked up and smiled in the photos together.
Zoya Borisovna's memoirs are not a textbook on etiquette, but an honest "kitchen" conversation about great culture and people of the era. Her victory did not become a sensation: it was the "Negligent Life" that was unanimously called the favorite. The book is compiled from dictations that the author has been making for decades: here are personal observations, episodes from Moscow salons, accurate and sometimes harsh assessments of colleagues and friends. These are not memories "from the stage", but the records of a man who went through half a century of Russian cultural history next to its main characters. As one of the guests noted, Boguslavskaya is read not for nostalgia, but for the rare ability to call a spade a spade, and this is a weighty argument for the award.
Children's writer Eduard Verkin, who won the Fiction nomination, at the XX National Literary Award ceremony "Big Book" at the Pashkov House in Moscow
If there was almost no doubt about this nomination, then Edward Verkin's victory caused a storm of emotions — both joyful and dissatisfied. Boris Kuznetsov, director of the ROSMAN publishing house, noted before the announcement of the results that only one vote was decisive. And the counting commission rechecked the notes of the jury members several times: the handwriting was illegible, and it was necessary to accurately determine the winner.
— Verkin has his own, slightly gloomy gift: mixing folklore motifs with an acute, sometimes frightening sense of being. "The Magpie on the Gallows" is a novel exploring existence, where the hero is forced to stare into the abyss and not look away. The book scares not with monsters, but with an intimate experience of emptiness; it is imaginative and reads like a parable for an anxious time," Tolstoy said in an interview with Izvestia.
The writer himself, if he was happy about the victory, did not show it. From the stage, he thanked colleagues, readers, publishers, and then complained that he would no longer be able to receive the "Big Book."
"However, the rules can be changed," he added in a conversation with Izvestia.
Read the analysis of the "Magpie on the Gallows" here.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
