In a unique initiative that aims to promote European literature and its talented authors, the organizers of Europe’s premier song contest, Eurovision, have joined forces with the renowned literary festival Hay Festival to launch the Eurovision Book Contest 2023. With a charitable purpose at its core, this literary project aims to research, popularize, and celebrate the brightest literary values from across Europe.
Eurovision fans were actively involved in the initiative, as they were invited to submit their favorite works of fiction from authors hailing from the 37 countries participating in the annual music contest. The only requirement was that the books had to be published after 1956, the year when the first Eurovision Song Contest took place.
Celebrating the rich diversity of European literature, the jury carefully selected 37 nominees that represent a wide range of genres and storytelling styles. Among the chosen works is “Boarding School” (2017) by Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan, which vividly captures the setting of Donbas in 2015, offering readers a compelling local story amidst the backdrop of danger and uncertainty.
The annotation to Serhiy Zhadan’s “Boarding School” says: “This is not an epic novel that is meant to be a panorama of what is happening in eastern Ukraine. This is a local story of an ordinary school teacher – his aspirations, motivation and goals in the face of danger, when history and your place in it can change in a matter of hours. It’s also about a whole region that people are used to considering separate, but still continue to fight for it”
37 nominees
A Celebration of European Literary Talent
Pallati i ëndrrave by Ismail Kadare (The Palace of Dreams translated by Barbara Bray) – ALBANIA
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – AUSTRALIA
The house in which… by Mariam Petrosyan (The Gray House translated by Yuri Machkasov) – ARMENIA
Der Trafikant by Robert Seethaler (The Tobacconist translated by Charlotte Collins) – AUSTRIA
The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya – AZERBAIJAN
Moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes by Jacqueline Harpman (I Who Have Never Known Men translated by Ros Schwartz) – BELGIUM
Uhvati zeca by Lana Bastašić (Catch the Rabbit translated by Lana Bastašić) – CROATIA
Ανατολική Μεσόγειος by Ivi Meleagrou (Eastern Mediterranean translated by Andrew Hendry) – CYPRUS
Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí by Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being translated by Michael Henry) – CZECH REPUBLIC
Kastanjemanden by Søren Sveistrup (The Chestnut Man translated by Caroline Waight) – DENMARK
Pobeda 1946 by Ilmar Taska (Pobeda 1946: A Car Called Victory translated by Christopher Moseley) – ESTONIA
Sommarboken by Tove Jansson (The Summer Book translated by Thomas Teal) – FINLAND
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis translated by Anjali Singh) – FRANCE
Das achte Leben (Für Brilka) by Nino Haratischvili (The Eighth Life (for Brilka) translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin) – GEORGIA
Das Parfum by Patrick Süskind (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer translated by John E Woods) – GERMANY
Το τρίτο στεφάνι by Costas Taktsis (The Third Wedding Wreath translated by John Chioles) – GREECE
DNA by Yrsa Sigurdardottir – ICELAND
Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes – IRELAND
Gader Haya by Dorit Rabinyan (All the Rivers translated by Jessica Cohen) – ISRAEL
L’amica geniale by Elena Ferrante (My Brilliant Friend translated by Ann Goldstein) – ITALY
Paisums by Inga Ābele (High Tide translated by Kaija Straumanis) – LATVIA
Vilniaus pokeris by Ričardas Gavelis (Vilnius Poker translated by Elizabeth Novickas) – LITHUANIA
Kulħadd ħalla isem warajh by Clare Azzopardi – MALTA
Caiet de censor by Liliana Corobca (The Censor’s Notebook translated by Monica Cure) – MOLDOVA
De avond is ongemak by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (The Discomfort of Evening translated by Michele Hutchison) – THE NETHERLANDS
Perlebryggeriet by Jenny Hval (Paradise Rot translated by Marjam Idriss) – NORWAY
Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych by Olga Tokarczuk (Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones) – POLAND
Livro do Desassossego by Fernando Pessoa (The Book of Disquiet translated by Margaret Jull Costa) – PORTUGAL
Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu (Solenoid translated by Sean Cotter) – ROMANIA
Celesta by Milena Ercolani – SAN MARINO
Hazarski rečnik by Milorad Pavić (Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel translated by Christina Pribicevic-Zoric) – SERBIA
Jugoslavija, moja dežela by Goran Vojnović (Yugoslavia, My Fatherland translated by Noah Charney) – SLOVENIA
Corazón tan blanco by Javier Marias (A Heart So White translated by Margaret Jull Costa) – SPAIN
Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann by Jonas Jonasson (The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared translated by Rod Bradbury) – SWEDEN
Nachtzug nach Lissabon by Pascal Mercier (Night Train to Lisbon translater by Barbara Harshav) – SWITZERLAND
Boarding School by Serhiy Zhadan (The Orphanage translated by Reilly Costigan Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler) – UKRAINE
Heartstopper, volume one by Alice Oseman – UK
Uniting Music and Literature for a Charitable Cause
