Janus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry 2016 [antikvár]

Tlie Hungarian PEN Club launches a major poetry prize (Information for the 78th PEN International Congress held in South Korea, 10-15 Sep. 2012.) Géza Szőcs President Hungarian PEN Club he Hungarian PEN Club is creating a major international prize, The Janus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry. We do this to counter the noticeable decline in the appreciation of poetry worldwide, a hugely dangerous trend. If poetic works are pushed to the periphery, then no matter how technically perfect our civilization is, it will also become a soulless structure for us all. Given the numerous conflicts of interest between the countries on the planet, dialogue among its inhabitants becomes much more valuable. This dialogue appears both as an imperative and as a powerful tool to build confidence between cultures. We do not look upon poetry primarily as a tool, even though we consider it an important instrument in bringing the soul, spirit and our morals into maturity. Rather, we look upon it as a demonstration of the expressive power of human consciousness as it strives to become more noble. Our prize seeks to honour and reward those poets who can be considered heirs to human spirituality and culture, the grand chain of values, accumulated over millennia. We wish to honour those contemporary artists who have done the most to advance the representation and enrichment of forms of consciousness in harmony with the reflection and interpretation of the world today. The prize has been named after Janus Pannonius, the first known and celebrated Hungarian poet. The prize awarded is 50,000 euros.