The Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Prize in Literature
In 1997 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn fulfilled a dream he had harbored ever since receiving the Nobel Prize – to establish a literature prize in Russia, one that, as he said, would “not overlook the worthy” authors, nor “reward the empty” ones.
The mission of the prize is to recognize Russian literature, in all its genres. Laureates can be prose writers, poets, playwrights, literary critics and scholars of literature. The prize has been expanded to incorporate contributions to the study of Russian culture, history and social thought. What unites all laureates is that their work must be in the Russian language and written in Russia at any time after the 1917 Revolution. In a small minority of cases, laureates have been recognized posthumously. A laureate cannot receive the award twice.
For over twenty-five years now, the announcement of the The Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Prize in Literature every March, and the award ceremony held shortly after Easter, have become important events in Russian literary life. While the prize has been awarded mainly to prose writers and poets, the list of recipients includes linguists, literary critics, directors and actors who have brought literature to the screen.
One of the distinguishing features of the prize is that it is the only one in Russia to be founded “for writers by a writer”. The $25,000 annual prize is funded from the proceeds of worldwide publications of The Gulag Archipelago.
Laureates
2023
TBA
2022
Aza Alibekovna Takho-Godi, philologist
2021
NO PRIZE | PANDEMIC
2020
Natalia Ivanovna Mikhailova, musem director
Sergei Mikhailovich Nekrasov, museum director
2019
Yevgeni Germanovich Vodolazkin, writer
2018
Sergei Viktorovich Liubaev, book designer
Viktor Glebovich Britvin, illustrator
2017
Vladimir Petrovich Enisherlov, historic preservationist
2016
Grigori Mikhailovich Kruzhkov, poet and translator
2015
Sergei Vasilievich Zhenovach, theater director
2014
Irina Bentsionovna Rodnianskaia, literary critic
2013
Maksim Albertovich Amelin, poet, translator, publisher
2012
Oleg Olegovich Pavlov, writer
2011
Elena Tsezarevna Chukovskaya, publisher and editor
2010
Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin, historian
2009
Viktor Petrovich Astafiev, author (posthumously)
2008
Boris Petrovich Ekimov, writer
2007
Sergei Georgievich Bocharov, literary critic
Andrei Anatolievich Zaliznyak, linguist
2006
Alexei Nikolaevich Varlamov, prose writer
2005
Igor Petrovich Zolotussky, literature critic
2004
Vladimir Vladimirovich Bortko, film director
Evgeny Vitalievich Mironov, actor
2003
Yuri Mikhailovich Kublanovsky, poet
Olga Aleksandrovna Sedakova, poet
2002
Leonid Ivanovich Borodin, prose writer
Aleksandr Sergeevich Panarin, philosopher
2001
Konstantin Dmitrievich Vorobyov, writer (posthumously)
Evgeni Ivanovich Nosov, writer
2000
Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin, prose writer
1999
Inna Lvovna Lisnyanskaya, poet
1998
Vladimir Nikolaevich Toporov, philologist
Jury
Pavel Basinsky
literary critic
Boris Lyubimov
theater critic
Viktor Moskvin
publisher
Valentin Nepomnyashchy
writer
Liudmilla Saraskina
literature scholar
Natalia Solzhenitsyn
President of the Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Russian Social Fund
—-DECEASED—-
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (☦ 2008)
Nikita Struve (☦ 2016)
professor of literature, publisher
Learn More About the Prize
Natalia Solzhenitsyn discusses the history and her late husband's goals for the prize in a 1997 interview with Aleksandr Shchuplov that was published in Knizhnoe Obozrenie, (“The Book Review”).
Read the translated interview >