The State Literary Awards for 2024 were presented on Monday.

According to an official announcement, the recipients of the State Literary Awards are: Eleni Kefala in Poetry for Direct orient: poems (Perispomeni Publications), Kyriakos Margaritis in the Novel category for Symvan 74 (Ikaros Publications), Andreas Maloris in Short Story/Novella for Almost Everything: Short Stories (To Rodakio Publications), Pantelis Voutouris in Study (Monograph)/Essay for Somewhere in Cyprus, in the Prefecture of Preveza…: An Introduction to the Poetics of Costas Montis (Erato Publications), Alexandros Chronidis for the New Writer Award with By the Rivers of Babylon (Almyra Publications), Marina Michaelidou-Kadi in Literature for Young Children for Hot Chocolate (Teleia Publications), Anna Kouppanou in Literature for Older Children and Young Adults for When the Sea Left Us: A Story Based on Real Events from Cyprus in 1974 (Patakis Publications), and Chryso Charalambous in Illustration of a Literary Book for Children and Young Adults for The Moon in Paris by Areti Katsantoni (Fourfouri Publications).

In her address at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture Vasiliki Kassianidou announced that the 2025 State Literary Awards will include a separate category for “Folk Poetry”, as a recognition of the importance and breadth of this form of artistic and literary expression, which continues to flourish in Cyprus.

The Deputy Minister also announced that an additional support scheme for publications with Cypriot studies (Cyprological) themes is currently being prepared and is expected to be announced within 2026.

Congratulating the winners, she stressed that “through their writing, they offer us new perspectives, remind us of the value of human experience, and consistently defend the power of the written word against the challenges of our time.”

Ms Kassianidou further noted that “the Deputy Ministry consistently supports the work of creators and publishing houses, strengthens and leads initiatives, grant schemes, and actions that promote literary creation, literary translation into foreign languages, and more.”

She also stated that, within the framework of the Deputy Ministry’s strategic planning to strengthen the island’s intellectual and creative output, a range of initiatives are included. These include the Culture Programme for Literature, Grant Schemes for Literary Translation into Foreign Languages, Translation of Works by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot authors, as well as Grants for Intellectual Content Periodicals and Occupied Municipalities.

She further noted that, in order to enhance the international visibility of Cypriot authors and publishing houses, the Deputy Ministry actively supports participation in major International Book Fairs, including Frankfurt, Bologna, and Thessaloniki. This year, Cyprus also participated as the Guest of Honour at the 68th Belgrade International Book Fair. At the same time, the Deputy Ministry of Culture once again supported both the Limassol Book Fair and the Nicosia Book Fest.

The artistic direction of the ceremony was undertaken by Achilleas Grammatikopoulos, who combined staged poetic texts by Costas Montis with music—performed live by Christina Georgiou—and contemporary dance choreographed by Elena Christodoulidou. The award citations were read by Katerina Karatasou, President of the Jury for the State Literary Awards for Children and Young Adults, Konstantinos Georgiou, President of the Jury for Illustration of a Literary Book for Children and Young Adults, and Dr Konstantinos Bouras, member of the State Literary Awards Committee.