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The contest, which is held by the Krakow Festival Office and sponsored by the City of Kraków, aims to support and promote valuable publishing initiatives linked to the literary character of Kraków, its heritage and the most important figures and phenomena in the city’s cultural life. Winners to date were represented both by large publishing houses operating in the book market and offering books by the most renowned Polish and international writers (including Wydawnictwo Znak, Wydawnictwo Czarne, Wydawnictwo Literackie), and by niche publishing houses (Korporacja Ha!art, Nisza, Wydawnictwo Drzazgi, Wydawnictwo Officyna, Fundacja KONTENT, Wydawnictwo Wolno).
For whom?
The KUCL Prize is a personal award for writers, illustrators, editors and translators involved in the publishing process. Publishers are asked to nominate creators for the prize. The application should include a description of the publishing project, the candidate’s literary achievements to date and a review of the planned publication. A single prize nomination can concern only a single candidate, regardless of whether the work created by that candidate is an independent or joint work. In addition to the financial prize, the winner is awarded the title of KUCL Writer, Illustrator, Editor or Translator.
The Kraków UNESCO City of Literature Prize, established in 2020 by the Kraków City Council resolution, responds to contemporary challenges faced by the book industry. The contest for publishers and creators has become part of a broad support initiative helping the cultural sector in Krakow under the Resilient Culture slogan. The Prize is also part of the KUCL Patronage Programme, which implements the key assumptions of the 2017-2022 Kraków UNESCO City of Literature Strategy and the 2030 Kraków Cultural Development Programme. Nurturing the literary heritage and maintaining Kraków’s image, as well as supporting the creative, literary and publishing circles are the main objectives of the project.
The UNESCO City of Literature Prize contest is organised by the City of Kraków and carried out by the Kraków Festival Office, a cultural institution of the City of Kraków and operator of the Kraków UNESCO City of Literature programme (in accordance with Resolution No. XXXVII/972/20 of the Kraków City Council of 11 March 2020).
Applications may be submitted digitally and signed with qualified signatures (in accordance with Article 781 of the Act of 23 April 1964 – Civil Code, Dz. U. [Journal of Laws] of 2022, item 1360, as amended) to nagroda@miastoliteratury.pl or by post to: Dział Literacki, Pałac Potockich, Rynek Główny 20, 31-008 Kraków, with a note “KUCL Prize”.
If the application is submitted in writing, the applicant is required to send a copy of the application to the e-mail address above.