Lithuanian author wins prestigious EU literature award

Lithuanian author Daina Opolskaite has won the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) for "Dienu Piramides" ("Pyramids of Days"), a collection of short stories, Tyto Alba, the publisher of the book, said.

Opolskaite, one of the 14 laureates of the 2019 EUPL, was presented with the prize at a ceremony in Brussels on Wednesday evening.

She is the fourth Lithuanian author to have won the prestigious EU literature award. The other three are Laura Sintija Cerniauskaite (in 2009), Giedra Radvilaviciute (in 2012) and Undine Radzeviciute (in 2015).

Launched in 2009, the award aims to draws attention to literary talents across Europe as well as to the continent's contemporary fiction and linguistic heritage.

Winning authors receive a cash award. Their books are translated into other languages and presented at international events.

Opolskaite's Dienu Piramides has already attracted interest from publishers in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Bulgaria.