Last December, it was announced that the Azerbaijan Book Award would be established at the state level in 2026. The announcement stated that the award of 50,000 manats would be given annually to one author, and the winning work would be translated into foreign languages and distributed.
It was stated that novels and stories for prose and poetry samples (poetry and narrative verse) would be submitted to the competition by publishers and literary bodies. In the first phase - September, experts would prepare a long list of 10 works, and in November, a special commission would determine a short list of 5 works. The laureate was to be announced that month.
We have reached the middle of the fifth month of 2026. Has the Azerbaijan Book Award been established? If yes, have publishers and literary bodies started submitting prose (novels and stories) and poetry (poetry and narrative verse) samples to the competition? In general, what is the status of the issue?
Regarding the topic, the Medianews.az website sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Culture.
In response to the inquiry, it was stated that the initiative regarding the Azerbaijan Book Award is currently in the conceptual and organizational preparation stage: “Work is ongoing on the legal and institutional mechanisms of the project, and discussions with the relevant parties continue.”
Medianews.az