Literary Zvolen - literary contest

Literary Zvolen - literary contest is a national competition in literary writing for authors, members of literary clubs and literary interest groups. The mission of the competition is to encourage, develop and present amateur literary works in a national context, to evaluate and reward the competing works, and to enable creative dialogue and mutual communication among authors, clubs and organisations and the education of young authors.

Literary Zvolen was conceived in 1992. The National Centre of Culture announces the event and is its expert guarantor, organisational guarantors include Zvolen Municipal Government and Banská Bystrica Self-governing Region, and the event is implemented by the National Centre for Culture and Regional Library Ľudovít Štúr in Zvolen. The solemn ceremony of announcing the results of the competition and the analytical training seminar take place in Zvolen. Participants (authors aged over 15 years who have no prior published work) compete in two categories: poetry and prose. The jury that evaluates works in the national round is drawn from eminent literary personalities in Slovakia. Until 2001 the chairman of the jury was poet Vojtech Kondrót, but since 2003 the prose writer Peter Jaroš has headed the jury. Alexander Halvoník has been on the jury since the inception of the competition, and its members at different times have also included Ján Majerník, Ján Švantner, Jozef Urban, Ladislav Ballek, Ján Tazberík, Peter Andruška, Nata Hostovecká, Maroš Bancej, Marián Škotka, Július Balco and others. Since 2003 the jury has comprised Peter Jaroš (chairman), Ján Petrík and Alexander Halvoník. A discussion with a representative of the regional literary scene as a rule is an accompanying event. The National Centre of Culture annually publishes an anthology of selected works by awarded authors in connection with the competition.