The ''NIN'' Award (, Нинова награда), officially the Award for Best Novel of the Year, is a prestigious

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n (and previously

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...

established in 1954 by the ''NIN'' weekly and is given annually for the best newly published novel written in

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

(previously in

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

B92 RTV B92, or simply B92 (stylized as b92, formerly BΞ92 and B 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade. Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and informati ...

''Grozdani Olujić NIN-ova nagrada'' (NIN Prize to Grozdana Olujić)
, 15 Jan 2010 The award is presented every year in January by a panel of writers and critics. In addition to being a highly acclaimed award capable of transforming writers' literary careers, the award is also sought after because it virtually assures bestseller status for the winning novel. The literary website ''

complete review ''Complete Review'' (stylized ''complete review'') is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around th ...

'' called it the "leading Serbian literary prize" in 2012. Between 1954 and 1957, the award was given to the best novel published in Yugoslavia, regardless of the language, but all the novels awarded in this period were written in Serbo-Croatian language. Starting in 1958, only novels written in Serbo-Croatian were eligible. Starting in 2012, only novels written in

were eligible, regardless of the place of publication.

Winners

Since its inception, the award was not awarded only once, in 1959, when the jury decided that there were no candidates worthy of the award.

Oskar Davičo Oskar Davičo ( sr-cyr, Оскар Давичо; 18 January 1909 – 30 September 1989) was a Serbian novelist and poet. A leading literary figure of his generation, he was one of the most acclaimed Serbian surrealist writers, but also a revoluti ...

is the only author to have won the award three times (in 1956, 1963 and 1964), and the only one to win it in two consecutive years. The only other authors to have won multiple (two) awards are

Dobrica Ćosić Dobrica Ćosić (, ; 29 December 1921 – 18 May 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician, writer, and political theorist. Ćosić was twice awarded the prestigious NIN award for literature and Medal of Pushkin for his writing. His books hav ...

Živojin Pavlović Živojin "Žika" Pavlović (15 April 1933 – 29 November 1998) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film director, writer, painter and professor. In his films and novels, Pavlović depicted the cruel reality of small, poor and abandoned people living ...

, Dragan Velikić, and most recently

Svetislav Basara Svetislav Basara ( sr-cyr, Светислав Басара; born 21 December 1953) is a Serbian writer and columnist. Biography Basara grew up in Užice, attended the Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium of the town and graduated with maturity diploma, ...

. So far, seven women have been recipients of the award. In 1978, Danilo Kiš became the first laureate to return the award. He returned the award for Novel of the year 1972 and demanded his name to be deleted from the list of winners. Because he was outraged by the text about him published in NIN on 7 February 1992, Milisav Savić returned the award that was given to him just a month earlier for the year 1991. One of the most notable non-recipients is

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...

, the only Yugoslavian

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

laureate. Andrić was candidate for the NIN award once, in 1954, with '' Prokleta avlija'', but the jury disqualified the book as they classified it as a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

, and not a novel.

Jury members

References

{{Authority control Awards established in 1954 Serbian literary awards Serbian literature Yugoslav awards

Winners

Jury members

See also

References