Vick Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Vick Foundation was established by Edward Vick (founder of EVS Translations) in February 2004 to award an annual prize for best Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
. Vick's initiative was acclaimed by those who saw in the prize a new opportunity for the Bulgarian literature after almost 15 years of standstill. There is also a competition for the most popular short-listed book, based on votes cast by the general public. In 2008, the award will celebrate its 5th year anniversary and the Foundation is on the path to becoming an instituition in Bulgaria.
A permanent committee, which includes Stefan Danailov
Stefan Danailov
Stefan Lambov Danailov is a Bulgarian actor and former Minister of Culture of Bulgaria .The first film Danailov has taken part was "The Traces Remain" being a child. At that time he did not want to be an actor. However, later in 1966 he graduated VITIZ...
, the current Minister of Culture of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, elects а jury. Other members in the committee are Raymond Wagenstein, Boyan Biolchev, Nedyalko Yordanov, Hristo Droumev and Ivan Granitski. The jury changes each year and they select a short list of six Bulgarian novels from which the winner is chosen. One of the member making up the 2008 jury is Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva is a Bulgarian and EU politician.Born in Sofia, Kuneva graduated in Law from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984 she became a Doctor of Law. She worked as a journalist for the Law Programme of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia...
, the current European commissioner in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
The aim of the foundation is also to enable others to gain access into Bulgarian literature, especially for the literary world beyond Bulgaria.
The award ceremony each year is well-attended by members of Bulgarian society and journalist, as can be seen by the photo gallery on the website. The event is covered by TV channels in Bulgaria and causes quite a media furor annually. KariZa and other well-known performers have graced the stages during the award ceremony and the ceremonies are known to be of much entertainment value.
The competition is organised with the support of Translation Company EVS
Vick Prize Winners
- 2004: Ekzekoutorat (The Executioner (Kisyov novel)The Executioner (Kisyov novel)The Executioner is a crime novel by Bulgarian novelist Stefan Kisyov, about the killing of Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov. It was published in 2003 and is the winner of the Vick Foundation's "Best Novel of 2004".-Plot summary:...
) by Stefan KisyovStefan KisyovStefan Kisyov is a novelist, journalist, playwright and short story writer. Kisyov was born in Stara Zagora in 1963. He studied at Sofia and Plovdiv universities, and also at the Sorbonne in Paris... - 2005: Staklenata reka (The Glass River) by Emil Andreev
- 2006: Amazonkata na Varoe (Varoe’s Amazon) by Prof. Boyan Biolchev
- 2007: Partien Dom (Party Headquarters) by Georgi TenevGeorgi TenevGeorgi Tenev is a Bulgarian novelist, short story writer, playwright and film/TV screenwriter.Major topics in Tenev’s works are the cultural and ideological void in the post-totalitarian societies and the consequent emerging of counter-cultures; the fall of utopias and the social amnesias...
- 2008: Photo Stoyanovich by Evgenia Ivanova