The Ryszard Kapuściński Award () is a major annual Polish international literary prize, the most important distinction in the genre of literary reportage.
History The award was founded to celebrate and promote most worthwhile reportage books which touch on important contemporary issues, evoke reflection, and deepen knowledge of the world of other cultures, and thus also about oneself. Intended to honour the legacy of the journalist and writer Ryszard Kapuściński (1932–2007), the award cherishes the honorary patronage of Mrs Alicja Kapuścińska, the wife of the writer.
Established in January 2010 by the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw, the award takes form of a monetary prize: 100,000 złoty for the author of the best literary reportage of the year and 20,000 PLN to the author of the best translation of the reportage of the year. Past members of the jury have included figures such as Joanna Bator, Maciej Drygas, Olga Stanisławska, Maciej Zaremba, Małgorzata Szejnert, Anders Bodegård, Julia Fiedorczuk, William R. Brand and Piotr Mitzner.
The award should not be confused with two other awards named after Ryszard Kapuściński: the Polish Press Agency Ryszard Kapuściński Award established in 2010 and the Ryszard Kapuściński Translation Award established in 2015.
Winners
YearLaureate(s)ImageCitizenship(s)TitleAward for translationCitation(s)Ref. 2026 Peter Pomerantsev United Kingdom How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler Aleksandra Paszkowska for the translation of Peter Pomerantsev's How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler 2025 – Poland The Forest of Ghosts (Las duchów) – – 2024 Fernanda Melchor Mexico This Is Not Miami (To nie jest Miami) Tomasz Pindel for the translation of Fernanda Melchor's This Is Not Miami 2023 – Poland Głusza No award – 2022 Ander Izagirre Spain The Mountain That Eats Men (Potosí. Góra, która zjada ludzi) Jerzy Wołk-Łaniewski for the translation of Ander Izagirre's The Mountain That Eats Men 2021 Jessica Bruder United States Nomadland Martyna Tomczak for the translation of Jessica Bruder's Nomadland 2020 Poland The Scab. Spain Scratches Open Its Wounds (Strup. Hiszpania rozdrapuje rany) Irena Kowadło-Przedmojska, Tomasz Pindel and Marek S. Zadura (ex aequo) for the translations of Lars Berg's Good Wolf. The Tragedy At A Swedish Zoo, Óscara Martínez's The Beast: About People No One Cares About and Artem Czech's Zero Point respectively 2019 Sweden A House with Two Turrets (Dom z dwiema wieżami) Mariusz Kalinowski for the translation of Maciej Zaremba's Huset med de två tornen (A House with Two Turrets) from Swedish 2018 Poland Sendler: In Hiding (Sendlerowa. W ukryciu) Sergiusz Kowalski for the translation of Ben Rawlence's City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp from English 2017 United Kingdom Capital: A Portrait of Delhi in the Twenty‑First Century Barbara Kopeć-Umiastowska, Janusz Ochab and Marta Szafrańska-Brandt (ex aequo) for the translations of Rana Dasgupta's Capital: A Portrait of Delhi in the Twenty‑First Century, Ed Vulliamy's The War is Dead, Long Live the War: Bosnia: The Reckoning and Martin Caparrós Hunger (El Hambre) respectively 2016 Poland The Devil and the Bar of Chocolate No award – 2015 Scotland Return of a King No award – 2014 Sweden And in Wienerwald the Trees Are Still Standing (Och i Wienerwald står träden kvar) Irena Kowadło-Przedmojska for the translation of Elisabeth's Åsbrink's And in Wienerwald the Trees Are Still Standing 2013 United Kingdom Amexica: War Along the Borderline Janusz Ochab for the translation of Ed Vulliamy's Amexica: War Along the Borderline 2012 China The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up Wen Huang and Agnieszka Pokojska for the Chinese-English translation of Liao Yiwu's The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up 2011 Belarus War's Unwomanly Face Jerzy Czech for the Polish translation of Svetlana Alexievich's War's Unwomanly Face 2010 France The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide Jacek Giszczak for the Polish translation of Jean Hatzfeld's The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide
See also Angelus Award Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award Polish literature
References