Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award


The Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award is a Polish international literature prize established in 2013 in Warsaw and named after a Polish poet, essayist, and moralist Zbigniew Herbert. It is conferred annually by the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation and its aim is to recognize "outstanding artistic and intellectual literary achievements on the world stage which have a bearing on the world of values towards which Zbigniew Herbert’s work gravitated".

History

In 2010, the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation was set up in order to preserve and promote Herbert's "creative legacy as an integral part of the literary and cultural heritage of Poland, Europe and the world" as well as to encourage and support "education in the fields of literature and the humanities, particularly modern literature, writing, poetry and journalism, with a special emphasis on programs for young people". The initiative to establish the foundation was put forward by his wife Katarzyna Dzieduszycka-Herbert.
The jury selecting the winners of the award have included many renowned literature experts and authors such as Edward Hirsch, Jaume Vallcorba Plana, Tomas Venclova, Yurii Andrukhovych, Agneta Pleijel, Michael Krüger, Lidija Dimkovska, and Jarosław Mikołajewski.

Laureates

YearLaureateImageCitizenshipInstitutionSource
2013Princeton University
2014 / University of New Hampshire
2015Adam Mickiewicz University
2016University of Texas at Austin
2017 / University of Cape Town
2018University College Cork
2019Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2020Kunstakademie Düsseldorf