This year 15min in the annual book selection these authors and their books and translators and their translated books won.
The best fiction book by Lithuanian authors – Kotryna Zylė “My Bones” (Aukso žuvys publishing house)
The best non-fiction book by Lithuanian authors – Norbertas Černiauskas “Fado. A short history of Lithuania that did not happen” (Aukso žuvys publishing house)
Best translated fiction book – Georges Perec “Life is a user manual” (translated by Akvilė Melkūnaitė, “Lapas” publishing house)
The best translated non-fiction book – “Natasha’s Dance” by Orlando Figes (translated by Rasa Drazdauskienė, Science and Encyclopedia Publishing Center)
The best book of poetry by Lithuanian authors – Jurgita Jasponytė “The universe sits in the wrong place” (Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishing House)
The best translated book of poetry – “This” by Inger Christensen (translated by Dovydas Grajauskas, “Baziliskas” publishing house)
“The large number of people who voted in these elections testifies to the fact that they have become important in our literary life, it is a great way to summarize the interesting things that happened during this year. This year was also a time of change in the elections – we changed the date of their holding, and from now on they will be held in the fall, and the official award ceremony will be held at the “Open books” festival. Already the first awards have shown that it becomes not only an evening of honoring the winners and nominees, but also an opportunity for the literary community to gather,” said 15min man deputy editor Audrius Ožalas.
During the awards, hosted by A. Ožalas and 15min Monika Bertašiūtė-Čiužienė, editor of the culture department, awarded writers, translators, and publishers received the awards on stage. Special commemorative statuettes and monetary awards have been established for them in 15 minutes.
Watch the awards moments here:
WHAT THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION SAY ABOUT THE SIX SELECTED BOOKS
The best fiction book by Lithuanian authors
Kotryna Zylė “Beloved bones”
Golden Fish Publishing House
Lina Buividavičiūtė:
Kotryna Zylė’s novel “Mylimi kaulai” is one of the strongest prose books of 2024. The altered reality here is able to both surprise and pleasantly lull you, encourages you to recognize what is your own. Mythology, magical realism, folklore are interwoven into a dense but extremely coherent story. This is a book about life and death, about the natural cycles of being, nature, about fateful initiations, about abandonment and abundance. Apartment buildings and animals kept in them, magic pancakes whose secret ingredient is urine, trolleys and a coffin on the balcony, love, waiting and letting go, the gray pandemic, the past and the present – these are just some of what you will find in the novel. In K. Zylė’s book, both “about what” and “how” are equally fascinating – the story flows extremely harmoniously, the wordiness and sense of language are surprising.”
The best non-fiction book by Lithuanian authors
Norbertas Černiauskas “Fado. A short history of Lithuania that did not happen”
Golden Fish Publishing House
15 min photo/Norbert Černiauskas “Fado. A short history of Lithuania that did not happen”
Jūratė Čerškutė:
“Historian Norbert Černiauskas layered history of history that did not happen – this is a playful study of imagination, inviting the reader to imagine, what if if… After the Second World War, Lithuania is a free and independent country, a little like Portugal. This is how she was in 1968, which became the core of the book. And it is not by chance, the years of global upheavals and revolutions were the last frontier still reached by interwar forecasts, plans and ideas. The three stories in the book discuss the imagined/could have been if not for the Soviet occupation: the pulse and transformations of everyday and cultural life in Lithuania, political processes and economic progress of the state, the intersection of ideas of community and individuality. Chernivtsi Fado raises a lot of questions, kind of massages the mind, stirs up stagnant knowledge, calls for discussion, and, perhaps, will make even those who have never thought about possible options for alternative history think. And specifically about this one.”
The best translated fiction book
Georges Perec “Life is a user manual”
The translator is Akvilė Melkūnaitė
Lapas Publishing House
15min photo/Georges Perec “Life as a user manual”
Marius Burok:
“The novel “Life: User’s Guide” by the French writer the beast (you can’t call him otherwise) George Peretz is a playful literary puzzle, a triumph of the author’s ingenuity and fantasy, and at the same time an encyclopedia of human experience and civilization. The world contained in one apartment building seems to be frozen in the amber of time, but at the same time it is very dynamic, unfolding with hundreds of stories, anecdotes, biographies and stories. The author of “In Life” seems to tear the veil from the mechanisms of everyday life, highlights it and leaves it for us to admire.”
Best translated non-fiction book
“Natasha’s Dance” by Orlando Figes
The translator is Rasa Drazdauskienė
Science and encyclopedia publishing center
15min photo/Orlando Figes “Natasha’s Dance”
Jurga Mandrijauskaitė:
“Although recently there has been a lot of talk about how Russia is trying to change historical narratives and use culture to spread its power and propaganda, in this book, like no other, this image is extremely broad and complex, helping to expose with very specific examples and parallels what was lied about Cultural narratives played a role in Ruija’s culture, what it tried to own, what role it played in the history and ideology of this country. It calls into question what place Russian cultural creators saw in the European tradition and what is sometimes considered “great Russian culture”. The work was written more than twenty years ago, but it is most relevant now, and it is surprising how the author has accurately captured what we can clearly see only now. The book is a serious historical and cultural study, but it is also suitable for a wide audience.”
The best poetry book by Lithuanian authors
Jurgita Jasponytė “The universe sits in the wrong place”
Publishing house of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union
15 min photo/Jurgita Jasponytė “The universe sits in the wrong place”
Ramune Brunzdaitė:
Jurgita Jasponytė’s “The Universe Sits in the Wrong Place” is the strongest poetry book of this year, already noticed and appreciated in the literary field. Ethnography is important for Jasponytė’s poetry: Dima’s writings, houses in the village, grazing cows, dialects, customs. It is important that these ethnographic elements do not settle in the dust like exhibits in a museum, they are revealed in an authentic and modern way, in poems they combine the past and the present time. In poetry, the old (grandmother Albina, grandfather Kanoška, prom-mothers) and young (daughters, a child running behind) appear and create a connection, the speaker of the poem is like a mediator between those who come and go to this world, life flows through her. The city is also important in the texts (Vilnius is easy to recognize, Ukrainian cities are also mentioned), and a whole chapter is devoted to its streets. Jasponytė’s poems surprise, turn ordinary things upside down, show the world in a different way, as if the universe is sitting in the right or wrong place for itself, and thus ignites a lively spark of poetry.”
The best translated book of poetry
Inger Christensen “Tai”
Translated by Dovydas Grajauskas
Basilisk Publishing House
15min photo/Inger Christensen “This”
Neringa Butnoriūtė:
“This” by Inger Christensen is an unusually ambitious, not immediately comprehensible attempt to make sense of the world as a process of becoming. This epic poem resembles a careful, structured drawing of the world. Only instead of a pencil stroke, the author uses words, categories, references to culture and history. The reading is engaging in an unusual teaching style, as Christensen skillfully shifts the scale of representation from the macro to the micro. In this way, the poet tries to include the human “I” in the scale of the world: she allows him to feel both a demiurge and a small element of the world in the history of the world. The translation by Dovydas Grajauskas reveals the rationality and feeling characteristic of Christensen’s poetry, as well as experiments in form. Although at first glance Tai seems almost epic in its ambition, reading it is a truly immersive experience that provides a sense of transparency and encourages a rethinking of the concept of creativity.”
The books for the lists submitted for voting are selected by literature experts: this year the commissions consisted of Audrius Ožalas, Jūratė Čerškutė, Marius Burokas, Jurga Mandrijauskaitė, Lina Buividavičiūtė, Mažvydas Karalius, Neringa Butnoriūtė, Ramunė Brundzaitė.
An essential criterion for evaluating works is that books should have lasting, artistic, cognitive value, in the case of a translated book, the quality of its translation is also evaluated. Also, the books must be published for the first time in Lithuanian (or it must be a new translation of the book into Lithuanian). Rated books published since 2023. November 1 until 2024 September 1st. Prizes of 500 euros are given to the authors of Lithuanian books, and the same amount of prizes are given to the translators of the best selected translated books – thus emphasizing the importance of translators who translate foreign works into Lithuanian and often remain in the shadows.
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