# Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award

The Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award is an annual all-Russian literary award that was founded in 2003 by the Leo Tolstoy Museum Estate and Samsung Electronics. It is presented to the best traditional-style novel written in Russian or translated into Russian.
The award maintains classical literature traditions by commemorating the authors of outstanding works and also supports contemporary literarure by noting talented writers. These two aspects allow the award to remain balanced and harmonious.
As of 2024, the award categories are:
* Modern Russian Prose
* Foreign Fiction
* New Adult / Youth
* Personality of the Year
* Missed Masterpiece
* Readers' Choice
* Yasnaya Polyana School of Criticism Review
Modern Russian Prose and Foreign Fiction are considered the two most esteemed categories by the award maker. Most of the categories go through multiple stages of decision, including a longlist and shortlist by a jury. The Readers' Choice is determined by popular vote online.

## Background

Originally, until 2005, there were only two categories: an Outstanding Work of Russian Fiction and an Outstanding Debut in Russian Fiction. These were renamed Contemporary Classic and 21st Century, respectively. In 2012 (the award's 10-year anniversary), another category was added to the award – Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, named after Leo Tolstoy's semi-autobiographical trilogy of novels.
A fourth category, Foreign Fiction, was added in 2015, and the fifth, Readers' Choice, in 2016. In 2017, Contemporary Classic was renamed Contemporary Russian Fiction, the Event category was added, and Childhood, Boyhood, Youth abandoned. Notably, 21st Century was never provided again.
The award's fund doubled since 2010. Currently, it amounts to 6,700,000 ₽, making it the largest endowment of any literary award in Russia. The Readers' Choice winner is awarded with a theme trip to South Korea, presented by Samsung. All winners receive a special statuette.

### Recent years

In October 2023, the jury announced the winners of the 21st awards, renaming Event to Personality of the Year, and adding a category for Missed Masterpiece, meaning a work that flew under Russian critics' radar until a recent translation made it more notable. The monetary fund of 6,700,000 ₽ was distributed to the honorees:
* the winner of the Modern Russian Prose award receives 3,000,000 ₽, while 1,000,000 ₽ is divided between the finalists.
* a sum of 1,200,000 ₽ goes to the Foreign Fiction laureate, while the work's translator gets 500,000 ₽.
* another 250,000 ₽ is given to the Personality of the Year.
* the remaining 250,000 ₽ goes to the translator of the Missed Masterpiece.
* the Readers' Choice winner is awarded with a theme trip to South Korea, presented by Samsung.
In October 2024, the jury is set to announce the winners of the 22nd awards. A category called "Youth", which aims to highlight works targeting young adults, has been added. The longlists and shortlists were announced between May and September 2024. The monetary fund of 6,700,000 ₽ will be distributed to the honorees:
* the winner of the Modern Russian Prose award receives 3,000,000 ₽, while 1,000,000 ₽ is divided between the finalists.
* a sum of 1,200,000 ₽ goes to the Foreign Fiction laureate, while the work's translator gets 500,000 ₽.
* the winner of New Adult / Youth gets 400,000 ₽
* another 250,000 ₽ is given to the Personality of the Year.
* the remaining 250,000 ₽ goes to the translator of the Missed Masterpiece.
* additionally, the Readers' Choice winner is awarded with 100,000 ₽ and a theme trip to South Korea, presented by Samsung.

## The jury

The jury, which consists of famous writers, critics and literature experts, select authors whose works preserve the traditions of classic literature and, at the same time, represent the relevant trends of modern Russian and foreign literature.
Yasnaya Polyana jury members include famous Russian writers, literary critics and public figures. As of 2020 there are:
* Vladimir Tolstoy– chairman of the jury, advisor to the President of the Russian Federation on cultural matters, journalist;
* Pavel Basinsky – journalist, writer, literary critic;
* Aleksey Varlamov – novelist, scholar of 20th-century Russian literature;
* Eugene Vodolazkin – literary critic, writer, winner of the Yasnaya Polyana literary award;
* Valentin Kurbatov – writer, essayist, literary critic;
* Vladislav Otroshenko – Russian writer and essayist, winner of the Yasnaya Polyana literary award.

## Winners
### 2003 — 2005

| Year | Outstanding Work | Outstanding Debut |
| 2003 | Viktor Likhonosov | Vladislav Otroshenko |
| 2004 | Timur Zulfikanov | Anton Utkin |
| 2005 | Anatolij Kim | Alexander Yakovlev |

### 2006 — 2011

| Year | Contemporary Classics | 21st Century |
| 2006 | Vasily Belov | Alexey Ivanov |
| 2007 | Leonid Borodin | Zakhar Prilepin |
| 2008 | Petr Krasnov | Ljudmila Saraskina |
| 2009 | Vladimir Lichutin | Vassilij Golovanov |
| 2010 | Mikhail Kuraev | Mikhail Tarkovsky |
| 2011 | Fazil Iskander | Yelena Katishonok |

### 2012 — 2014

| Year | Contemporary Classics | 21st Century | Childhood, Boyhood, Youth |
| 2012 | Valentin Rasputin | Evgenij Kasimov | Andrey Dmitriev |
| 2013 | Yury Bondarev | Evgenij Vodolazkin | Yury Nechiporenko |
| 2014 | Boris Ekimov | Arsen Titov | Roman Senchin |

### 2015 — 2016

| Year | Contemporary Classics | 21st Century | Childhood, Boyhood, Youth | Foreign Fiction | Readers' Choice |
| 2015 | Andrei Bitov | Guzel Yakhina | Valery Bylinsky | Ruth Ozeki, Ekaterina Ilyina (translator) | Guzel Yakhina |
| 2016 | Vladimir Makanin | Narine Abgaryan, Alexander Grigorenko | Marina Nefyodova | Orhan Pamuk, Apollinaria Avrutina (translator) | Narine Abgaryan |

### Since 2017

| Year | Contemporary Russian Fiction | Foreign Fiction | Event | Readers' Choice |
| 2017 | Andrei Rubanov | Mario Vargas Llosa, Kirill Korkonosenko (translator) | "LiteraTula" Children's Book Fair | Oleg Yermakov |
| 2018 | Olga Slavnikova | Amos Oz, Victor Radutski (translator) | Story of One Appointment (film) | Maria Stepanova |
| 2019 | Sergei Samsonov | Hernán Rivera Letelier, Darya Sinitsina (translator) | The Glass Bead Game (literary TV show) | Grigori Sluzhitel |
| 2020 | Evgeniy Chizov | Patricia Duncker, Alexandra Borisenko and Victor Sonkin (translators) | Oleg Pavlov | Sasha Filipenko |
| 2021 | German Sadulaev | Julian Barnes, Dmitry Simanovsky and Sergei Polotovsky (translators) | Каждый день сначала. Валентин Распутин и Валентин Курбатов: диалог длиною в сорок лет | Marina Stepnova |
| 2022 | Dmitry Danilov | Yu Hua, Yuliya Dreyzis (translator) | | Islam Hanipaev |