Roma Literary Awards  Program  

The Open Society Institute-Budapest is pleased to announce a new awards program honoring Roma artistic achievement in literature.  

The purpose of the awards program is threefold: (a) to promote artistically excellent prose and poetry written by Central and Eastern Europe Roma; (b) to promote the Romany language through literature; and, (c) to broaden local public access to the excellence and diversity of the literary arts in their own countries.  

Awards will be based solely on artistic excellence and artistic merit of the work that is submitted.  Work may be submitted in Romany or in the national language of the country of citizenship of the author.  

An award of $5,000 in each of the four categories listed below is planned. Awards will be announced publicly. Up to two short-listed finalists in each of the four categories may receive awards of $1,000 each.  

ESTABLISHING YOUR ELIGIBILITY  

Published Roma creative writers of exceptional talent are eligible to apply in one of the first three categories described below.  

Material submitted on behalf of authors who are deceased will not be considered. The manuscripts should be representative of your best recent published work. It must be work for which you have sole artistic responsibility. The literary excellence and literary merit of the work contained therein are the criteria on which your application will be judged. Choose your manuscript sample carefully.  

FOUR ELIGIBLE CATAGORIES  

1) You are eligible to apply in Fiction if you have published:  

-At least five different short stories, works of short fiction or excerpts from novels in two or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications which regularly include fiction as a portion of their format; or,

-A volume of short fiction or a collection of short stories; or

-A novel or novella; or,

-A play

 2) You are eligible to apply in Creative Nonfiction, if you have published:  

-At least five different creative essays (such as personal essays or memoirs), or,

-A volume of creative nonfiction  

3) You are eligible to apply in Poetry, if you have published:  

-A volume of 50 or more pages of poetry; or,

-Twenty or more different poems or pages of poetry in five or more literary journals, anthologies or publications which regularly include poetry as a portion of their format.

 4) You are eligible to apply in Translation into Romany, if you have translated and published:

 -One important and recognized work of international literature--prose or poetry; or,

-One volume of published prose or poetry written by a Rom in another language.

 HOW TO APPLY

 1) You must apply in a specific literary form (i.e. fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry or translation). You must establish your eligibility in the form in which you apply. No exceptions will be made to the eligibility requirements.

 In your cover letter, please state the literary form in which you are applying and briefly explain the material you are submitting in that form.  FOR EXAMPLE, " I am applying for the fiction award. I have attached a copy of my recent novel called, Paris Beat, which tells the story of a Roma musician who leaves Hungary and goes to Paris to play in a famous jazz orchestra. It was published in 1998 in Budapest by Magveto.  It was reviewed  in 2 Hungarian journals. Copies of those  reviews are attached. Etc.

 The following may not be used to establish eligibility:

 -collaborative work;

-journalism, interviews or editorials;

-scholarly writing;

-self-publication;

-work toward academic degrees;

-student publications;

-instructional writing;

-book reviews;

-collections and/or retellings of folktales, myths and fairytales;

 2) In order to apply:

 Your cover letter including a brief summary of the material must be submitted in English. The literary work you apply with must be submitted in Romany or in the national language of the country of the author’s citizenship in which the work was published. An individual may submit only one application per year.

 All manuscript submissions must be in typescript or clear photocopies of typescript. Photocopies from books or magazines will not be considered.

 Applications will be judged by an international panel of literary experts. Awards will be announced in the fall of 2002.

 Deadline:  The deadline for submission will be April 1, 2002 . Please submit as early as possible before that date if you are able to do so.

 Please direct queries and mail your application to:

 Veronika Tomka
Roma Literary Awards Program
Open Society Institute-Budapest
Oktober 6. U. 12.
H-1051 Budapest , Hungary
E-mail: romaculture@osi.hu
Phone: +36 1 327 3027
Fax: +36 1 327 3101