Jerusalem Prize

Jerusalem Prize
Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek (r) handing French author André Schwarz-Bart the 1967 Jerusalem Prize for Literature
Awarded for	writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society
Location	Israel
Presented by	Organisers of the Jerusalem International Book Forum
First awarded	1963; 61 years ago (1963)

The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society.^[1]

It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Forum (previously known as the Jerusalem International Book Fair), and the recipient usually delivers an address when accepting the award. The award is valued at $10,000.

The prize's inaugural year was 1963, awarded to Bertrand Russell who had won the Nobel Prize in 1950. Octavio Paz, V. S. Naipaul, J. M. Coetzee, and Mario Vargas Llosa all won the Jerusalem Prize prior to winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In the intervening even-numbered years there is also a National Jerusalem Prize to promote local Israeli authors. For example, in 1994 the Jerusalem Prize was won by Naomi Gal.