The Gorky Prize

In line with tradition, the prize-giving ceremony took place at the Certosa di San Giacomo monastery on the island of Capri where Maxim Gorky lived from 1906 to 1913. As the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Italy Alexei Meshkov remarked in a talk with the RIA Novosti correspondent, “over the past four years the prize has already become a traditional event within the framework of rich cultural links” between the two countries and “has emerged as a unique annual festival of Russian culture in the south of Italy.”

The prize is named after the great Soviet author and is presented to Russian and Italian writers. It was founded in 2008 by Viktor Chernomyrdin’s Regional Public Fund The Support and Development of the Middle Class, the Gorky Prize association and the municipal authorities on Capri to assist and encourage creativity in belles lettres, the translation of literature in Russia and in Italy and the establishment of appropriate conditions in which to familiarise critics and the public at large with current trends in the development of literature in both countries.”