The Andrei Bely Prize is the oldest independent literary prize awarded in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It was established in 1978 by the staff of Hours, the largest samizdat

Samizdat

Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...

 literary journal in Leningrad

Leningrad

Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...

, to recognize excellence in three categories: prose, poetry, and theory. Among its founders were Boris Ivanov, Boris Ostanin, Viktor Krivulin, Arkady Dragomoschenko, and other eminent figures of uncensored literature. The prize was named for Andrei Bely

Andrei Bely

Andrei Bely was the pseudonym of Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev , a Russian novelist, poet, theorist, and literary critic. His novel Petersburg was regarded by Vladimir Nabokov as one of the four greatest novels of the 20th century.-Biography:...

, whose influence spanned Russian poetry, prose, and humanitarianism.

Materially, the prize consisted of an apple

Apple

The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

, a single ruble

Ruble

The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are...

, and a bottle of vodka

Vodka

Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....

. Despite its playful character, the prize quickly became a major phenomenon of Russian literary life, and was awarded to a number of significant writers, including novelists Andrei Bitov

Andrei Bitov

Andrei Georgiyevich Bitov is a prominent Russian writer. Many consider him among the foremost Russian writers of the late 20th century.Among the novels that solidified his reputation are: Flying-Away Monakhov, Life in Windy Weather, Pushkin House, Captive of the Caucasus, and The Monkey Link.Bitov...

, Sasha Sokolov

Sasha Sokolov

Sasha Sokolov is a paradoxical writer of Russian literature....

, and Yevgeny Kharitonov, poets Gennady Aygi, Olga Sedakova

Olga Sedakova

Olga Sedakova is a former Russian synchronized swimmer who competed at two Olympic Games, won three gold medals in the world championships, and ten golds at the European Championships.-Soviet and Unified Team:...

, and Elena Schwarz, philosopher Boris Groys

Boris Groys

Boris Efimovich Groys is an art critic, media theorist, and philosopher. He is currently a Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University and Senior Research Fellow at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany...

, critic Mikhail Epstein

Mikhail Epstein

Mikhail Naumovich Epstein is an American literary theorist and critical thinker. He is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia...

, and Sinologist Vladimir Malyavin. After a lull in the early nineties, it was revived in 1997 with the addition of a fourth category, "services to literature", and continues to be awarded to this day. Recent laureates have included Mikhail Gasparov

Mikhail Gasparov

Mikhail Leonovich Gasparov was a Russian philologist and translator, renowned for his studies in classical philology and the history of versification, and a member of the informal Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School...

, Vladimir Toporov

Vladimir Toporov

Vladimir Nikolayevich Toporov was a leading Russian philologist associated with the Tartu-Moscow semiotic school. His wife was Tatyana Elizarenkova....

, Margarita Meklina, Mikhail Gronas, Vladimir Sorokin

Vladimir Sorokin

Vladimir Georgievich Sorokin is a contemporary postmodern Russian writer and dramatist, one of the most popular in modern Russian literature.-Biography:...

, Boris Dubin

Boris Dubin

Boris Vladimirovich Dubin is a Russian sociologist, and a translator for English, French, Spanish, Latin American and Polish literature. Dubin is the head of department of sociopolitical researches at the Levada Center and the assistant to Lev Gudkov, editor-in-chief of the sociological journal...

, Sergei Kruglov

Sergei Gennadiyevich Kruglov

Sergei Gennadiyevich Kruglov is a Russian poet and priest.Born in Krasnoyarsk, he studied journalism at Siberian Federal University but did not graduate. He worked at the urban newspaper Vlast' Trudu and has published poems since 1993...

, Aleksandr Lavrov, and Elena Fanailova

Elena Fanailova

Elena Nikolayevna Fanailova is a Russian poet.Born in Voronezh, she graduated from the Voronezh Medical Institute and earned a degree in journalism from Voronezh State University. She worked for six years as a doctor at Voronezh Regional Hospital...

.

External links

Entry at the New Literary Map of Russia