The laureates of the Andrei Bely Award for 2023 have been announced

The names of the laureates of the Andrei Bely Award – Russia’s oldest independent literary award – have been announced. As noted by the organizing committee, in 2023 the prize will be awarded under tragic circumstances.

“Boris Ostanin, the last of its founders, who was its soul and heart for many years, has passed away. His lively interest in everything new and bright, his inherent breadth of views were the key to the successful work of the award in the conditions of the most diverse changes in Russian culture and Russian society – and this approach remains the basis of the award’s work in any circumstances,” the message says.

This year, the prize was awarded in five nominations. In the “Poetry” nomination, the poet, novelist, literary critic and critic Danyla Davydov won for his book of poems “Unreliable Storyteller”. As noted by the jury, the book can be considered an example of how philological knowledge and literary criticism allow the poet to preserve his unique voice, avoiding the temptations of literary fashion.

In the “Prose” nomination, the laureate was the artist Ilya Dolgov, who works and lives in Kronstadt, for the work “#Scyaponics, the work of shadows. Poetic and practical guide for graceful horticulture”, where the report on the artistic project turns into graceful meditative prose.

Nadezhda Plungyan was announced as a laureate in the “Humanitarian Studies” nomination for a long-term project to study the role of women in Russian art of the first half of the 20th century. The result of this project was the award-winning book “Birth of a Soviet Woman. Worker, Peasant, Airwoman, “Former” and Others in Art 1917–1939″.

In the “Literary Projects and Criticism” nomination, the literary magazine “Flagy” and its initiator and editor-in-chief, Mikhail Bordunovsky, were awarded the prize. This magazine was created by the youngest generation of Russian literature and in a few years managed to offer a new look at modern poetry, becoming one of the leaders of poetic periodicals.

The special prize “For services to Russian literature” was awarded to the philologist Tatyana Nikolskaya, who for many decades has been studying the Russian avant-garde and its connections with the Georgian avant-garde. Tatyana Nikolskaya’s works have long been included in the fund of philological classics and have become indispensable for everyone who is involved in Russian literature of the first quarter of the 20th century, the jury notes.

The Andrei Bely Award was founded in 1978. The award is given for innovative poetic and prose works, for the most relevant humanitarian research.

After the departure of all the founders of the award, it was decided to create a Board of Trustees from among the laureates and members of the jury of different years. The council included, among other things, the most important representatives of St. Petersburg’s unofficial culture – poet Alexander Gornon, poet and artist Boris Constrictor (Vantalov), translator Viktor Lapytsky, the press release states. The Board of Trustees will announce its next steps in January next year, simultaneously with the award ceremony for 2023.

At the beginning of October, it was reported that after the death of Boris Ostanin, the fate of the award was in question, and that it might cease to exist. The information was given with reference to the statements of the chairman of the public council of the Andrey Bely Center, Maria Zilberburg. At the same time, proposals were made to re-establish the award, such as the Boris Ostanin Memorial Award.

• Petersburg writer, in Soviet times, self-publishing and underground figure Boris Ostanin died on September 22. Together with Boris Ivanov in 1978, he created the independent and uncensored Andrey Bely Award. It went through a number of transformations, it existed until recently – more than 40 years. Its laureates in different years have been famous writers and humanities scholars. The award was highly valued, although its material content from Soviet times remained one ruble, a bottle of vodka and an apple.