The NIN Award (, Нинова награда), officially the Award for Best Novel of the Year, is a Serbian (and previously Yugoslavian) literary award established in 1954 by the NIN weekly and is given annually for the best newly published novel written in Serbian (previously in Serbo-Croatian).B92: Grozdani Olujić NIN-ova nagrada (NIN Prize to Grozdana Olujić) , 15 Jan 2010 The award is presented every year in January by a panel of writers and critics. In addition to being a highly acclaimed award capable of transforming writers' literary careers, the award is also sought after because it virtually assures bestseller status for the winning novel.B92: Najtraženije knjige - kako i zašto (The Bestselling Books: How and Why?) by SONJA GOČANIN, 31 Jan 2011 The literary website complete review called it the "leading Serbian literary prize" in 2012.
Between 1954 and 1957, the award was given to the best novel published in Yugoslavia, regardless of the language, but all the novels awarded in this period were written in Serbo-Croatian language. Starting in 1958, only novels written in Serbo-Croatian were eligible. Starting in 2012, only novels written in Serbian were eligible, regardless of the place of publication.
Winners Since its inception, the award was not awarded only once, in 1959, when the jury decided that there were no candidates worthy of the award. Oskar Davičo is the only author to have won the award three times (in 1956, 1963 and 1964), and the only one to win it in two consecutive years. The only other authors to have won multiple (two) awards are Dobrica Ćosić, Živojin Pavlović, Dragan Velikić, and most recently Svetislav Basara. So far, seven women have been recipients of the award.
Controversies In 1978, Danilo Kiš became the first laureate to return the award. He returned the award for Novel of the year 1972 and demanded his name to be deleted from the list of winners. Because he was outraged by the text about him published in NIN on 7 February 1992, Milisav Savić returned the award that was given to him just a month earlier for the year 1991.
One of the most notable non-recipients is Ivo Andrić, the only Yugoslavian Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Andrić was candidate for the NIN award once, in 1954, with Prokleta avlija, but the jury disqualified the book as they classified it as a novella, and not a novel.
In January 2020, a group of 18 writers published an open letter calling for the boycott of the NIN award. They claimed that the jury was "professionally and morally incompetent", and protested the fact that, in their opinion, jury "was not made up of critics who systematically review Serbian novels". Among the signatories were two former winners (Vuksanović and Tabašević), one former jury member (Vladušić) and even some writers who competed that year, but were not chosen among the finalists. Jury president Teofil Pančić and former winner Filip David claimed that the signatories were part of the "nationalistic elite" and were motivated by politics. Former winner Aleksandar Gatalica joined the boycott in 2021. After all members of the jury were changed, the boycott was ended in 2024, when two of the signatories competed again, one of them (Bazdulj) even making to the finalists. Some of the signatories ended the boycott even earlier, with Franja Petrinović competing in 2020 and Laura Barna in 2023.
List YearPhoto Author(s)NovelFinalistsRef2025Darko TuševljakovićKarota2024Marinko Arsić IvkovNGDL2023Stevo GrabovacPoslije zabave2022Danica VukićevićUnutrašnje more 2021Milena MarkovićDeca 2020Svetislav Basara (2)Kontraendorfin 2019Saša IlićPas i kontrabas 2018 Vladimir Tabašević Zabluda Svetog Sebastijana 2017 Dejan Atanacković Luzitanija 2016 Ivana Dimić Arzamas 2015 Dragan Velikić (2) Islednik 2014 Filip David Kuća sećanja i zaborava(The House of Memory and Oblivion) 2013 Goran Gocić Tai(Thai) 2012 Aleksandar Gatalica Veliki rat(The Great War) 2011 Slobodan Tišma Bernardijeva soba 2010 Gordana Ćirjanić Ono što oduvek želiš 2009 Grozdana Olujić Glasovi u vetru 2008 Vladimir Pištalo Tesla, portret među maskama(Tesla, a Portrait with Masks) 2007 Dragan Velikić Ruski prozor(The Russian Window) 2006 Svetislav Basara Uspon i pad Parkinsonove bolesti(The Rise and Fall of Parkinson's Disease) 2005 Miro Vuksanović Semolj zemlja 2004 Vladimir Tasić Kiša i hartija 2003 Vladan Matijević Pisac izdaleka 2002 Mladen Markov Ukop oca 2001 Zoran Ćirić Hobo 2000 Goran Petrović Sitničarnica "Kod srećne ruke"(At the "Lucky Hand" aka the Sixty-nine Drawers) 1999 Maksimilijan Erenrajh-Ostojić Karakteristika 1998 Danilo Nikolić Fajront u Grgetegu 1997 Milovan Danojlić Oslobodioci i izdajnici 1996 David Albahari Mamac(Bait) 1995 Svetlana Velmar-Janković Bezdno 1994 Vladimir Arsenijević U potpalublju(In the Hold) 1993 Radoslav Petković Sudbina i komentari(Destiny, Annotated) 1992 Živojin Pavlović (2) Lapot 1991 Milisav Savić Hleb i strah 1990 Miroslav Josić Višnjić Odbrana i propast Bodroga u sedam burnih godišnjih doba 1989 Vojislav Lubarda Vaznesenje 1988 Dubravka Ugrešić Forsiranje romana reke(Fording the Stream of Consciousness) 1987 Voja Čolanović Zebnja na rasklapanje 1986 Vidosav Stevanović Testament 1985 Živojin Pavlović Zid smrti 1984 Milorad Pavić Hazarski rečnik(Dictionary of the Khazars) 1983 Dragoslav Mihailović Čizmaši 1982 Antonije Isaković Tren 2 1981 Pavao Pavličić Večernji akt 1980 Slobodan Selenić Prijatelji 1979 Pavle Ugrinov Zadat život 1978 Mirko Kovač Vrata od utrobe 1977 Petko Vojnić Purčar Dom, sve dalji 1976 Aleksandar Tišma Upotreba čoveka(The Use of Man) 1975 Miodrag Bulatović Ljudi sa četiri prsta 1974 Jure Franičević-Pločar Vir 1973 Mihailo Lalić Ratna sreća 1972 Danilo Kiš Peščanik(Hourglass) Aleksandar Tišma, Knjiga o Blamu 1971 Miloš Crnjanski Roman o Londonu(A Novel of London) 1970 Borislav Pekić Hodočašće Arsenija Njegovana (Houses of Belgrade / Houses) 1969 Bora Ćosić Uloge moje porodice u svetskoj revoluciji(My Family's Role in the World Revolution) 1968 Slobodan Novak Mirisi, zlato i tamjan(Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh) 1967 Erih Koš Mreže 1966 Meša Selimović Derviš i smrt(Death and the Dervish) 1965 Ranko Marinković Kiklop(Cyclops) 1964 Oskar Davičo (3) Tajne 1963 Oskar Davičo (2) Gladi 1962 Miroslav Krleža Zastave (vol. 1) 1961 Dobrica Ćosić (2) Deobe 1960 Radomir Konstantinović Izlazak(Exitus) 1959 colspan="2" 1958 Branko Ćopić Ne tuguj bronzana stražo 1957 Aleksandar Vučo Mrtve javke 1956 Oskar Davičo Beton i svici 1955 Mirko Božić Neisplakani 1954 Dobrica Ćosić Koreni(The Roots)
Jury members +Year(s)Member #1Member #2Member#3Member#4Member#5Member#6Member#7Member#8Member#9Member#101954-1963Milan BogdanovićVelibor GligorićEli FinciBorislav Mihajlović MihizZoran MišićStevan Majstorović1964Petar Džadžić1965-1970Zoran MišićMiloš I. BandićMuharem Pervić1971-1972Midhad BegićIgor MandićDraško Ređep1973Mladen LeskovacDalibor CvitanRadovan Vučković1974Žika BogdanovićSreten AsanovićMuharem Pervić1975Vuk FilipovićMilan Vlajčić1976Jovica AćinSreten MarićČedomir MirkovićVladimir Stojšin1977-1979Miloš I. BandićVaso MilinčevićVuk KrnjevićMilosav Mirković1980Svetozar KoljevićMilivoj SolarMilan VlajčićSreten Marić1981Boško PetrovićMarko NedićAndrej Inkart1982Dušan VeličkovićNikola KovačMuharem PervićIgor Mandić1983Zoran GluščevićJovica AćinTeodor AnđelićĐorđije Vuković1984Slavko LeovacVelimir Visković1985Milivoj SrebroVaso MilinčevićMiroslav EgerićNovak KilibardaBogdan Tirnanić1986Predrag MatvejevićZdenko Lešić1987Jovan DeretićLjubiša JeremićSlavko GordićTeodor Anđelić1988Branko PopovićSvetozar KoljevićIgor MandićNovak Kilibarda1989Božo KoprivicaBorislav Mihajlović MihizGojko Tešić1990Svetlana SlapšakMarko VešovićSlavko GordićDušan VeličkovićVasa Pavković1991Marko NedićPavle ZorićSava Dautović1992Slavko LeovacČedomir MirkovićMiroslav Egerić1993Đorđe JanićLjiljana ŠopBorislav Mihajlović Mihiz (honorary member)1994Stojan VujičićNikola MiloševićTihomir Brajović1995Petar PijanovićMihailo PantićGojko Božović1996Nikola Milošević1997Đorđije VukovićAleksandar IlićMiroslav EgerićŽelidrag Nikčević1998Branko Popović1999-2000Boško IvkovTeofil PančićSvetozar Koljević2001Adrijana MarčetićTihomir Brajović2002Petar PijanovićIvan NegrišoracAleksandar Jerkov2003Dušan Marinković2004-2005Tihomir Brajović2006Milan VlajčićAleksandar JovanovićStevan TontićSlobodan Vladušić2007-2008Milo Lompar2009Aleksandar IlićMladen Šukalo2010Vasa PavkovićLjiljana ŠopMileta Aćimović Ivkov2011-2013Vladislava Gordić PetkovićMića Vujičić2013-2014Božo KoprivicaJasmina VrbavacMihailo Pantić2015-2017Zoran PaunovićTamara Krstić2018Branko KukićIvan MilenkovićMarjan Čakarević2019-2021Teofil PančićMarija Nenezić2022Milena ĐorđijevićŽarka SvirčevGoran Korunović2023Tamara MitrovićVioleta Stojmenović2024Aleksandar JerkovMladen VeskovićAdrijana MarčetićVladimir Gvozden2025Jelena S. Mladenović
See also Isidora Sekulić Award
References