EANC Announces Call for Candidates: The 2024 EANC Visnapuu Literature and Culture Award
Estonian American National Council announces call for submissions: Candidates for the 2024 EANC Visnapuu Award accepted through April 1, 2023.
Candidate Nominees may be put forth by individuals and/or organizations in Estonia, the United States, and abroad. The Panel of Judges will select up to six (6) nominees by October 1, 2023. The EANC Visnapuu Award winner will be announced on January 2, 2024.
The Estonian American National Council (EANC) re-established the Henrik Visnapuu literature and culture award in 2021. Named in celebration of the beloved Estonian poet best known for his writings that expressed such love for his homeland of Estonia, the Visnapuu literary award was first established in the United States in 1952. The more than half-century award tradition came to an end in 2007 with the passing of the founders.
The ERKÜ Visnapuu Auhind (EANC Visnapuu Award, for short) is awarded biannually with the winner announced every other year on Visnapuu’s birthday, January 2nd. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in literature, prose or poetry, the arts, scholarly works about Estonia, or for lifetime achievement in the patriotic spirit of Visnapuu.
Works to be considered may be in Estonian and/or other languages, and may be published in or outside of Estonia, although the award assigns preference to works from the Estonian diaspora community, works about Estonians born outside of Estonia and/or within the Estonian diaspora, and to those which highlight or express Estonian culture and/or history to the world at large. Eligible works will have been published or presented in the past two years (2021-2022) though candidates may also be nominated for outstanding, influential, and culmination of lifetime achievement.
The purpose of the award is to introduce and showcase Estonia to the world, while also informing the public and community about the mission and the work of the Estonian American National Council in the realm of the preservation, promotion and fostering of the Estonian language and culture abroad (see www.estosite.org).
The EANC is pleased to present this important award in collaboration with two partners in Estonia: Eesti Kirjanike Liit, www.ekl.ee (the Estonian Writers’ Union, a professional association of writers and literary critics); and Luunja vallavalitsus, https://luunja.ee (the municipal government of Luunja, the village in Estonia where Henrik Visnapuu was born.
The winner will be awarded a cash prize of up to $3,000 (funded by EANC) as well as a commissioned work of art by an Estonian artist.
Each of the three partner organizations will name one representative to the selection panel. The EANC Visnapuu Award Panel for 2023 comprises: literary scholar Epp Annus (USA, representing the Estonian American National Council); Estonian poet Jürgen Rooste (Estonia, representing the Estonian Writers’ Union) and Luunja official and high school principal Toomas Liivamägi (Estonia, representing Luunja municipal government). Judges may also consult with outside experts in specific genres and other cultural organizations when necessary.
The Deadline to Submit Nominations is April 1, 2023. Nominees may be put forth by individuals and/or organizations in Estonia, the United States, and abroad.
The Panel of Judges will select up to six (6) nominees by October 1, 2023. The EANC Visnapuu Award winner will be announced on January 2, 2024.
The award will be presented in person at an awards ceremony in the United States or Estonia. The first EANC Visnapuu Award (2022) was presented to author Elin Toona.
