Fourteen emerging writers from across Europe have been shortlisted for the EU Prize for Literature 2026, with the winner to be announced on May 29 at the Warsaw Book Fair. The ceremony will take place at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, where one overall laureate and two special mentions will be named.
The prize, launched by the European Commission in 2009, was established to spotlight new fiction talent across the 41 countries participating in the Creative Europe programme, with the aim of promoting literary translation and cross-border readership. Since its inception, it has recognised more than 200 authors.
The 14-strong shortlist, revealed on February 26, was selected by national juries operating on a rotating three-year cycle. Authors come from Armenia, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Sweden.
Among the shortlisted works are Sargis Hovsepyan's *You Die Today, I Die Tomorrow* (Armenia), Lora Tomaš's Paper of Your Skin (Croatia) and Paula Erizanu's Here Is Both Heaven and Hell. Republic of Moldova: A Century of Lived History. Luxembourg's Elise Schmit is shortlisted for General Doubts About the Future Course of Events.
The prize has undergone changes since its founding. Originally, each participating country nominated one winner per cycle; from 2022, a seven-member European jury assumed responsibility for selecting a single overall winner and special mentions from nationally nominated titles.
All shortlisted authors receive promotional support at major European book fairs and are featured in a multilingual anthology. The overall winner receives €10,000 plus funding for translations into two languages, while each of the two special mentions receives €5,000 and support for one translation.
