Their shortlists were announced in mid-December. Their content, as usual, was discussed, but also commented negatively, because especially the list of poems was too short… “short”. However, while the issue of the short list is subject to the free judgment of the competent committee, it does not appear that such an explanation can be given for the months-long delay in the announcement State Literary Prize 2022the final winners of which were expected before the beginning of the year, and the awards ceremony was scheduled for February 9th.

Deputy Minister of Modern Culture, Nicholas Giatromanolakis, states in “K” that the problem is legal and technical, that it has to do with building credibility for the institution, and that the goal is to announce the winners before the election. But what happened during this time?

According to sources who led the process, the problem seems to be related to what is going on in one of the committees that choose the awards, in particular the committee of 9 members State Prize for Literary Translation. Its president, Prof. Pavlos Kalligas, resigned in March 2022 (based on his request to expand the scope of the awards), and although another university student was formally proposed for his position, this proposal was not accepted at the management level. Ministry of Culture. Mr Kallig’s request was subsequently accepted but not legally ratified. Until last September, Mr. Calligas retired for good.

And while he was replaced by the vice-president of the committee, Professor Ioannis Tsolkas, at the same time another member left, for personal reasons: translator Rita Kolaiti, who actually replaced her colleague Errikos Sofra, who also resigned (for professional reasons).

Somehow, after Christmas, the committee of 7 was asked to meet again, but after two of its vacant positions were filled, and to announce the awards awarded later in the next period. However, according to the same sources, this was not necessary as there were no legal obstacles. Two replacements have been found, but in the meantime the committee’s two-year term ends at the end of 2022. And the awards, which after years of delays have recently managed to find their rhythm, have been appreciated “but remain blocked. in the closet”.

Conversation with “K”writer and literary critic Kostas Kalfopoulos and a member of the special commission on literary translation notes that she completed her work legally and on time, without questioning either her judgments or her composition. When this was done (because the Ministry deemed it necessary to formally resolve the quorum issue for reasons Mr. Kalfopoulos does not understand), the committee was also given the reasonable time necessary for its two new members to study the shortlisted translation projects. “However, although we expected to be given specific deadlines,” the author adds, “so that we could meet with the two new members to give our opinion, this did not happen. And we’ve been waiting ever since.”

Deputy Minister of Modern Culture, Nicholas Giatromanolakis, narrates “K” that the process has been completed in all nominations of the State Literary Prize 2022, except for the field of translations. And this is because the issue that arose with the resignations of committee members could call into question not the selection of projects itself, but the procedure that was followed. In the opinion of YPPOA’s legal department, the Deputy Minister says, the presentation of the final decision of the commission was not made with an acceptable composition of the commission. In order to avoid a shadow, the process had to be repeated, already in the full composition of the committee. The Deputy Minister expressed hope that the whole issue would be resolved sooner, but this is a complex administrative process, so it is still ongoing. “We don’t want the institution’s credibility to be questioned,” he says, and concludes, “Our intention is for the awards to be announced before the election.”

Other defendants in the case insist that the procedure was carried out on time, legally and just in two years, while they believe that the issue is “legal” and does not interfere with the announcement of other awards. Kostas Kalfopoulos considers it shameful for such an institution as the State Literary Prize to be subjected to bureaucratic and administrative pressure. “I don’t want to hold anyone accountable,” he concludes. “I think that the problem is related to the known causative agents of awards, in particular state awards. Perhaps the institution should be reformed much more thoroughly and even more reliably.”