5 April 2018 The Conrad Award 2018

Publishers, authors, critics and readers! Until the 30th of April, we are accepting submissions for this year's edition of the Conrad Award – the most important Polish honour for literary prose debuts. A reminder: The Award honours authors of books published in 2017. We will meet the winner – as has become tradition – on the last day of the Conrad Festival.

The submission should include the book title, full name of the author or literary pseudonym, publisher, year of publication and the ISBN. Every submission should also include seven copies of the book.

The submissions can be delivered in person to the Department of Culture of the Krakow Municipal Office at Plac Wszystkich Świętych 11, room 13 (1st floor, in the enfilade), or sent by post to: Wydział Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego Urzędu Miasta Krakowa, Plac Wszystkich Świętych 11, 31-004 Kraków. Please label the envelope “Conrad Award” (in the case of submissions sent by mail, the postmark date will be considered binding).

The Award jury, comprising Prof. Michał Paweł Markowski (chairman), Urszula Chwalba, Inga Iwasiów, Grzegorz Jankowicz, Krzysztof Koehler, Zofia Król, Michał Nogaś and Joanna Szulborska-Łukaszewicz (secretary) will name five nominees from among the submissions. The final verdict will be decided together by readers and members of the jury. The official award ceremony is planned for the Conrad Festival finale, while meetings with the authors of the nominated books will take place during the entire festival week.

Let us remind you that the Conrad Award, presented since 2015, was established to create new voices in Polish literature, inspire interest of a wide audience in the work of the debut authors, as well as support the young writers in the difficult period between releasing the first and second book. The award includes a cash prize of 30,000 PLN, a month-long residence stay in Krakow, and the promotion of the winning book in Tygodnik Powszechny. To date, the Award winners have been: Liliana Hermetz (2014), Żanna Słoniowska (2015) and Anna Cieplak (2016). 

The Conrad Award is a part of the municipal programme for supporting debuts in Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, and is a joint venture of the City of Krakow, the Krakow Festival Office, the Book Institute and the Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation.