Merits in the field of literature are assessed not only by readers, but also by professionals and other authors. Various awards for writers, both global and Russian, are regularly awarded, for example, the "Big Book" award.
The Big Book Award can be called the largest award in the field of literature for authors writing in Russian. This award has been presented since 2005.
The selection of winners takes place in several stages. After collecting applications, they are considered and a list of nominees is created. It includes prose works approved by the award's expert council. Their number is not limited by the regulations and depends on both the quantity and the quality of the applications received. In 2012, the list included 41 works. The list includes new works by such famous authors as Daniil Granin, and a book by the popular screenwriter and director Alexander Sokurov.
A total of 401 applications were submitted. For comparison, in 2006 there were only 71 of them. A significant increase in the number of selected works indicates an increase in the popularity of the competition.
The list of finalists is published at the end of May. No more than 15 compositions will be included in the final. In 2012, their number was 14. Among them there are few authors known to the general reader. However, the list included, for example, Vladimir Makanin, who had previously won the second prize. The list also includes the works of Zakhar Prilepin, known not only for his writing, but also for his political activities, primarily his connection with the National Bolshevik Party (NBP).
The representative of science fiction writers among the candidates for the award was Maria Galina with the work "Medvedki". The military theme was included in the list together with the book "My Lieutenant …" by Daniel Granin. The work of Alexander Grigorenko "Mabat" was included in the list as dedicated to the complex conflict between nature and civilization. "Teacher of Cynicism", a book by Vladimir Gubailovsky, was noted largely because of the new approach to a rather old story about the interaction of "physicists" and "lyricists". Andrei Dmitriev, not only a writer, but also a screenwriter, became a candidate for the award with the manuscript of the book "The Peasant and the Teenager."
Sergei Nosov, a well-known playwright and laureate of many awards, also became a candidate for the main prize with the novel Françoise, or the Path to the Glacier. Valery Popov became the ninth number in the list of the prize with the story "Dance to Death". Prose about crime also became a candidate for a prize in the form of a collection of stories by Andrei Rubanov "Shameful Feats". Marina Stepnova's work "The Women of Lazarus" became a representative of the genre of romantic literature.
In the list you can find not only fiction, but also documentary prose, memoirs. Such was the book about the writer Aksenov, created by his friends Alexander Kabakov and Yevgeny Popov. Also, on the basis of church traditions, the book of Archimandrite Tikhon "Unholy Saints" was created, designed to bring Christianity closer to the unchurched reader.
The list of candidates is closed by the writer Lena Eltang, now living in Vilnius, with the work "Other drums".
Based on the voting results, the jury will award the first, second and third prizes. Readers also express their opinions, and the author of the best work in their opinion is awarded the Audience Award. In addition, it is possible to present special prizes “For Contribution to Literature” and “For Honor and Dignity”. They are issued not for a specific novel or story, but for creative successes in general. The winners in these nominations in the 2012 awards will only be announced in the fall of the same year.
