Author from Azerbaijan among finalists of 2026 EBRD Literature Prize

People and Trees, a Trilogy by Akram Aylisli from Azerbaijan, is among the three chosen finalists for the 2026 EBRD Literature Prize. 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced the three finalists on 7 May.

People and Trees was originally written in Azerbaijani and translated from Russian by Katherine E. Young. It is published in English by Plamen Press.

The two other finalists are Ice by Jacek Dukaj (Poland) and On the Greenwich Line by Shady Lewis (Egypt).

The independent jury is chaired by writer, critic and cultural journalist Dr Maya Jaggi, who said:

“The first English translation of a classic Azerbaijani trilogy, People and Trees by Akram Aylisli is an enchanting coming-of-age story set in a mountain village in Soviet Azerbaijan amid an exodus of menfolk conscripted into the Second World War. The child’s-eye linked novellas expose the brutality of women’s lives, but also their spirited defiance. My fellow judges and I admired the skilful indirection of the narrative, the boy ingenuously revealing adult passions and crimes he scarcely grasps. Katherine E Young’s vivid translation via the Russian opens a hidden world, conjuring a harsh yet magical childhood, filled with the taste of walnuts and pomegranates.”

The winning author and translator will be revealed on 2 July at an awards ceremony at the EBRD’s headquarters in London. Prize money of €20,000 will be divided equally between the winning author and translator. The authors and translators of the other two finalist works will each receive €2,000.

The EBRD Literature Prize has been running since 2018 and is an annual award for a work of literary fiction originally written in a language of an economy where the Bank invests, translated into English and published in the past year, by a publisher based in Europe, North America or in a territory where the Bank operates.

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