| Nike Award | |
| Awarded For: | best book of a single living author writing in the Polish language published the previous year |
| Presenter: | Gazeta Wyborcza and Agora Foundation |
| Country: | Poland |
| Reward: | PLN 100,000 ($25,000) |
The Nike Literary Award (Polish: Nagroda Literacka „Nike", pronounced) is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for Polish literature.[1] Established in 1997 and funded by Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's second largest daily paper, and the consulting company NICOM, it is conferred annually in October. It is open for nominees from all literary genres, including non-fiction essays and autobiographies.
Each year, a nine-member jury selects the laureate in a three-stage process. Twenty official nominees are accepted in May, out of which seven finalists are declared in September. The final decision does not take place until the day of the award ceremony in October. The award consists of a statuette referring to the Greek goddess Nike, designed by the prominent Polish sculptor Kazimierz Gustaw Zemła, and a cash prize of currently PLN 100,000 (ca. $25,000).
In addition to the main jury award, there is an audience award based on the outcome of a vote on the seven official finalists conducted by Gazeta Wyborcza. The verdicts of the audience and jury have converged only occasionally (2000, 2001, 2004, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021). Two laureates of the award have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature: Czesław Miłosz (1980) and Olga Tokarczuk (2018). Tokarczuk and Wiesław Myśliwski are the only individuals to date to have received the Nike Award twice.
Title and details of English translation stated where available.
| Year | Picture | Author | Title | English title | Genre(s) | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Zyta Rudzka | Ten się śmieje kto ma zęby | Only Those with Teeth Can Smile | Novel | |||
| 2022 | Jerzy Jarniewicz | Mondo Cane | Mondo Cane | Poetry | [2] | ||
| 2021 | Zbigniew Rokita | Kajś. Opowieść o Górnym Śląsku | Kajś: A Tale of Upper Silesia | Reportage | [3] | ||
| 2020 | Radek Rak | Baśń o wężowym sercu | The Snake Heart Fairy Tale | Fantasy novel | [4] | ||
| 2019 | Mariusz Szczygieł | Nie ma | No There | Reportage | [5] | ||
| 2018 | Marcin Wicha | Rzeczy, których nie wyrzuciłem | Things I Didn't Throw Out | Collection of essays | [6] | ||
| 2017 | Cezary Łazarewicz | Żeby nie było śladów. Sprawa Grzegorza Przemyka | So There'll Be No Traces. Grzegorz Przemyk's Case | Reportage | [7] | ||
| 2016 | Bronka Nowicka | – | Nakarmić kamień | To Feed a Stone | Poetry | [8] [9] | |
| 2015 | Olga Tokarczuk | Księgi Jakubowe | The Books of Jacob | Novel | [10] | ||
| 2014 | Karol Modzelewski | Zajeździmy kobyłę historii. Wyznania poobijanego jeźdźca | We'll Ride the Mare of History to the Ground: Confessions of a Bruised Rider | Autobiography | [11] [12] | ||
| 2013 | Joanna Bator | Ciemno, prawie noc | Dark, Almost Night | Novel | [13] | ||
| 2012 | Marek Bieńczyk | Książka twarzy | Book of Faces | Collection of essays | [14] | ||
| 2011 | Marian Pilot | Pióropusz | Plume | Novel | [15] | ||
| 2010 | Tadeusz Słobodzianek | – | Nasza klasa | Our Class | Play | [16] | |
| 2009 | Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki | Piosenka o zależnościach i uzależnieniach | A Song of Dependencies and Addictions | Poetry | [17] | ||
| 2008 | Olga Tokarczuk | Bieguni | Flights | Novel | [18] | ||
| 2007 | Wiesław Myśliwski | Traktat o łuskaniu fasoli | Treatise on Shelling Beans | Novel | [19] | ||
| 2006 | Dorota Masłowska | Paw królowej | The Queen's Peacock | Novel | [20] | ||
| 2005 | Andrzej Stasiuk | Jadąc do Babadag | Travelling to Babadag | Novel | [21] | ||
| 2004 | Wojciech Kuczok | Gnój | Muck | Novel | [22] | ||
| 2003 | Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz | Zachód słońca w Milanówku | Sunset in Milanówek | Poetry | [23] | ||
| 2002 | Joanna Olczak-Roniker | W ogrodzie pamięci | In the Garden of Memory | Novel | [24] | ||
| 2001 | Jerzy Pilch | Pod Mocnym Aniołem | The Strong Angel Inn | Novel | [25] | ||
| 2000 | Tadeusz Różewicz | Matka odchodzi | Mother Is Leaving | Poetry | [26] | ||
| 1999 | Stanisław Barańczak | Z chirurgiczną precyzją | Surgical Precision | Poetry | [27] | ||
| 1998 | Czesław Miłosz | Piesek przydrożny | Road-side Dog | Poetry | [28] | ||
| 1997 | Wiesław Myśliwski | Widnokrąg | Horizon | Novel | [29] |
| Year | Author | Title | English title | Genre(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Grzegorz Piątek | Gdynia obiecana. Miasto, modernizm, modernizacja 1920-1939 | Gdynia Promised: City, Modernism, Modernization 1920-1939 | Reportage[30] | |
| 2022 | Joanna Ostrowska | Oni. Homoseksualiści w czasie II wojny światowej | Them. Homosexuals in WWII | Reportage[31] | |
| 2021 | Zbigniew Rokita | Kajś. Opowieść o Górnym Śląsku | Kajś. A Tale of Upper Silesia | Reportage | |
| 2020 | Joanna Gierak-Onoszko | 27 śmierci Toby'ego Obeda | 27 Deaths of Toby Obed | Collection of reportages | |
| 2019 | Mariusz Szczygieł | Nie ma | No There | Reportage | |
| 2018 | Marcin Wicha | Rzeczy, których nie wyrzuciłem | The Things I Didn't Throw Away | Collection of essays | |
| 2017 | Stanisław Łubieński | Dwanaście srok za ogon | The Birds They Sang | Collection of essays | |
| 2016 | Magdalena Grzebałkowska | 1945. Wojna i pokój | 1945. War and Peace | Reportage | |
| 2015 | Olga Tokarczuk | Księgi Jakubowe | The Books of Jacob | Novel | |
| 2014 | Ignacy Karpowicz | Ości | Bones | Novel | |
| 2013 | Szczepan Twardoch | Morfina | Morphine | Novel[32] [33] | |
| 2012 | Andrzej Franaszek | Miłosz: biografia | Miłosz: A Biography | Biography | |
| 2011 | Sławomir Mrożek | Dziennik 1962–1969 | Journals 1962–1969 | Diary | |
| 2010 | Magdalena Grochowska | Jerzy Giedroyc. Do Polski ze snu | Jerzy Giedroyc. To Poland from Dream | Biography | |
| 2009 | Krzysztof Varga | Gulasz z turula | Turul Goulash | Collection of essays | |
| 2008 | Olga Tokarczuk | Bieguni | Flights | Novel | |
| 2007 | Mariusz Szczygieł | Gottland | Gottland | Collection of reportages | |
| 2006 | Wisława Szymborska | Dwukropek | Colon | Poetry | |
| 2005 | Ryszard Kapuściński | Podróże z Herodotem | Journeys with Herodotus | Autobiography | |
| 2004 | Wojciech Kuczok | Gnój | Muck | Novel | |
| 2003 | Dorota Masłowska | Wojna polsko-ruska pod flagą biało-czerwoną | Snow White and Russian Red | Novel | |
| 2002 | Olga Tokarczuk | Gra na wielu bębenkach | Playing on Many Drums | Collection of short stories | |
| 2001 | Jerzy Pilch | Pod Mocnym Aniołem | The Strong Angel Inn | Novel | |
| 2000 | Tadeusz Różewicz | Matka odchodzi | Mother Is Leaving | Poetry | |
| 1999 | Olga Tokarczuk | Dom dzienny, dom nocny | House of Day, House of Night | Novel | |
| 1998 | Zygmunt Kubiak | Mitologia Greków i Rzymian | The Mythology of the Greeks and Romans | History | |
| 1997 | Olga Tokarczuk | Prawiek i inne czasy | Primeval and Other Times | Novel |