Baku, Finance Time. Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan had already announced that the company once again has become the main sponsor of the National Book Award (NBA), which is considered to be the most prestigious project in the area of modern Azerbaijani literature.
The National Book Award was established in the year 2009 by “Ali and Nino” Publishing house and drew a wide response in the society and media within a short period of time.
On August 28th the project was officially launched during the ceremony held at the International Press Center, where the award’s jury has been announced. The award’s Jury is composed of the country’s respected personalities.
Mr. Richard Shearer - the Chief Executive Officer of Bakcell (which is the main sponsor of this project) has spoken during the event, and stated that Bakcell supports the development of culture and arts in Azerbaijan, and thus highly values the National Book Award, being one of the most important initiatives in this area: “Bakcell pays a lot of attention to history, culture and literature of Azerbaijan, and major cultural projects, implemented by our company up to this day are the definite proof of that. This is the second time when Bakcell becomes an official partner of the NBA, and we are happy to make our contribution to the development of modern Azerbaijani literature”.
Nigar Kocharli, the founder of the NBA has stated that the coming years will reveal new authors – the creators of literary works which may become the gems of our national literature: “We have reached all the goals, set by us during the last year’s NBA project. Throughout this period of time, the development of our country’s modern literature became one of the most discussed topics.”
The main goal of the award is to draw public attention to the Azerbaijani literature, reveal and stimulate literary works, and increase the social significance of Azerbaijani culture and literature.
The award winners will receive prizes in the size of 3000, 2000 and 1000 manat respectively, and such nominations as poetry and children’s literature will be established.
NBA – 2012 will be notable for yet another novelty. Thus, the winning works will be available in the form of regular books and also electronic books, readable by means of all electronic and mobile devices.
The works should be submitted to the NBA before November 16th, via email (info@mkm.az) or regular post (Z.Taghiyev str. 19). On the March 1st, the experts will determine the “long list” of 20 best works. The “shortlist” of best 10 works will be determined on March 15, and presented to the Jury for review. NBA presentations will be organized in regions and educational institutions. The top twenty works will be discussed at “BookClub” in Baku and regions, and an internet voting will be organized on www.mkm.az. The Award winners will be announced on the 4th of July. In addition to that, awards in the size of 300 AZN each will be presented to the author of the best fairy tale for children, the best young writer and the author of the best poem.
Tales, stories, novels and other literary works will be accepted during the contest. Each work shall not be smaller than 40 thousand symbols. No limitations are applied to age, sex and location of authors, as well as the publishing place of works. The Authors should personally present their own works, both published and unpublished.
For more detailed information about the project, please visit official web and Facebook pages of Bakcell www.bakcell.com www.facebook.com/bakcell, or www.mkm.az and www.alinino.az.
