With a top prize of 3 million rubles, Russia’s Big Book
Awards is one of the largest literary awards second only to the Nobel Prize. This
year’s top winner was Mikhail Shishkin, who won first place with his novel Letter-Book. Letter-Book, or Pismovnik
in Russian, bids a unique plot in which the story unfolds through letters
written by two star-crossed lovers. The novel blurs the past and the present
while the lovers seek to reconnect.
Vladimir Sorokin author of The Blizzard was awarded second place. The Blizzard
archives the travels and thoughts of a doctor rushing to treat people
suffering from Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, a zombifying disease, while driving
through a horrendous Russian blizzard.
Third place was
awarded to Dmitrii Bykov for his work the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The story is set in Leningrad,
revolving around the tales of Russia’s last Freemasons in the 1920’s. The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice mixes history with magical realism in Russia’s
grim past.
Big Book also honored Peter Mayer of Overlook Press (and client
of Benay Enterprise) for his contribution in promoting Russian literature and
translating Russian works into English.
So a big congratulations to this year’s winners and of
course Peter Mayer’s amazing dedication and contribution to literature worldwide.
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