Sapir Prize

The Sapir Prize of Israel is an annual prize awarded for a work of fine literature. The prize is awarded by Mifal Hapayis (Israel's state lottery), and is a part of the organization's cultural initiatives. It carries the name of Pinhas Sapir, the late Israeli Minister of Finance, and was first awarded in 2000.

Prize Regulations

The group of judges for the prize is composed of prominent literary figures, whose names are kept confidential until the prize winner is named. Some of these judges are replaced from year to year.

The judges first select five books published during the previous year as final contestants for the prize. These books are selected from a list of books provided by the major publishing houses. After a number of weeks, a winner is chosen from these five books and is publicised during Israel's Hebrew Book Week.

The Sapir Prize, based on the British Man Booker Prize, is the most lucrative literary prize awarded in Israel: In 2005 the winner was awarded 150,000 NIS (roughly $35,000 USD), and each of the four remaining final contestants was awarded 25,000 NIS. In addition, the winner is granted translation of his work (from Hebrew) to the language of his choice.

In 2003, author Etgar Keret's book of short stories "Anihu" was disqualified from competing for the prize after it was discovered that the regulations required all competing books to run at least 60,000 words. This rule has since been abolished.

The five finalist authors participate in a round of literary get-togethers with readers throughout Israel with the backing of Israel's state lottery. In 2005, the state lottery ran a competition allowing readers to bet on the winner of the prize; the first 30 people to guess the winner correctly received the five finalist books.

In 2006, in response to many petitions, the prize's management decided to open up the competition to works published in the previous five years which had been translated into Hebrew from other languages. All competing authors must be Israeli citizens. The change was intended to allow Israeli authors writing in Russian, Arabic, English, and additional languages to compete. These authors can compete either in the normal prize track, or in a separate track specifically for translated works, from which only one work is selected.

Criticism of the Prize

As is usual with literary prizes, the Sapir Prize has been criticised by those who have not won it, regarding the supposed bias and outside influences of the judges. The Sapir Prize, however, is marked in the intensity of criticism it has received. For example, the remarks of Prof. Menahem Peri, of the "New Library" publishing house:

"The accumulated record of the prize in its five years has been one of missing and disgracing works of value, while fruitlessly advancing works of no value in a scandalous manner. Cleary a sum of money does not bring with it literary values." (Ha'aretz, 5/14/04)

Prof. Peri even announced that not all authors seeking to be published under his publishing house would be submitted for the prize, a fact which authors would have to take into consideration when signing a contract with him (i.e., the author is entirely dependent on the good will of the publisher, as only the publisher is allowed to submit books to compete for the prize, whereas the author - unlike with other literary prizes - has no rights or standing in this issue). Other authors, including Meir Shalev, Amos Oz, and Aharon Appelfeld, have refused to compete for the prize.

The prize's awarding ceremony is broadcast every year on television during Israel's Hebrew Book Week. In 2004, severe criticism was made of the "low artistic level" that accompanied the ceremony, including claims of "disgracing literature instead of encouraging it".

External links

* [http://www.alonafrankel.com/girl24.html The Sapir Prize - About the Prize and Judges' Statement]