Cikada Prize
The Cikada Prize was founded in 2004 following the 100th anniversary celebration in commemoration of the birth of the Swedish Nobel Prize winner, Harry Martinson. The award consists of a diploma, 30.000 SEK and a piece of ceramic art designed by the Swedish ceramics artist Gunilla Sundström (http://www.gunillasundstrom.se).
The award was initially (the first five prizes) presented in cooperation with the European Institute of Japanese Studies (EIJS) at the Stockholm School of Economics, the spa hotel Yasuragi, Judiska Teatern (The Jewish Theater), Östasieninstitutet (East Asia Institute) and Nyteboden. From 2013 it has been financed by the Swedish Institute.
The name of the prize has been inspired by Martinson's poetry collection "Cikada", which was published in 1953 (Cikada is Swedish for the insect family Cicadidae). In this collection is also included the first 29 poems of his famous work Aniara, "The Song about Doris and Mima". The atomic bombs in Japan, followed by the construction of the world's first H-bomb in 1953, had a big impact on Martinson's writing, which is reflected in Aniara. The prize focuses on East Asian poets, writing in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, not only because of Harry Martinson's great interest in East Asian literature, but also because the initiators of the prize believe poetry written in these languages deserves better recognition.
Prize Winners
- The 1st Cikada Prize (2004) was given to the poet Sô Sakon (1919-2006). The prize was presented in connection with the opening of a symposium about Japanese literature at the Yasuragi in Stockholm on 6 August 2004. The prize was given to So Sakon at the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo on 3 September 2004.
- The winner of the 2nd Cikada Prize (2005) was the Japanese haiku poet Tōta Kaneko. The prize was given to Tōta Kaneko at the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo 13 December 2005, by the Princess Desirée of Sweden.
- The 3rd Cikada Prize (2006) went to the Korean poet Ko Un (1933- ) and was handed over at the Swedish Embassy in Seoul, South Korea on 28 November 2006.
- The 4th Cikada Prize (2007) went to the Korean poet Shin Kyong Rim (1935- ) in 2007, again presented at the Swedish Ambassador's residence in Seoul.
In 2008 and 2009 there was no recipient, but in 2010 the prize went to the South Korean poet Moon Chung-hee Moon Chung-hee, who also received the prize at the Swedish Ambassador's residence in Seoul, on 6 November 2010.
In 2011 and 2012 there was, again, no recipient, but from 2013 the award has been given each year:
2013 - Mizuta Noriko, born 1937, Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noriko_Mizuta
2014 - Bei Dao, born 1949, China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bei_Dao
2015 - Ý Nhi, born 1944, Vietnam. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ý_Nhi
2016 - Yang Mu, 1940-2020, Taiwan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Mu
2017 - Mai Van Phan, born 1963, Vietnam. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Văn_Phấn
2018 - Xi Chuan, born 1963, China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Chuan
2019 - Xi Xi, born 1938, Hong Kong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Xi
2020 - Itô Hiromi, born 1955, Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiromi_Itō
2021 - Kim Hyesoon, born 1955, South Korea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Hyesoon