Shortlists Announced for the Enlightener Prize and the Enlightener. Translation Prize

  • 21 Sep 2026

  • Today, 21 September, the shortlists for the Dmitry Zimin Enlightener Prize and the Enlightener. Translation Prize were announced. The finalists competing for the title of the year’s best popular science books explore the “Russian Amazon” and the world’s oceans, Germany’s efforts to overcome Nazism and Japan’s development, mathematics, information technology — and evolution from some unexpected angles.

    ENLIGHTENER PRIZE
    Natural and Exact Sciences Category

    1. Evgeny Koblik. At the Headwaters of the "Russian Amazon": Chronicles of an Ornithological Expedition. — Alpina Non-Fiction, Moscow, 2025.

    2. Denis Novikov. Tree Rings and Pollen: Human History Through the Eyes of Plants. — Piter, St. Petersburg, 2026.

    3. Alexander Osadchiev. The Unknown Ocean: How Tides Work, Storms Are Born and Invisible Creatures Live in the Ocean Depths. — Bombora, Moscow, 2025.

    4. Ilya Udalov. My Uncle Is a Banana: The Secrets of Evolution Revealed by Genes. — Piter, St. Petersburg, 2026.

    Humanities Category

    1. Nikolai Vlasov. The Germans after the War: How West Germany Overcame Nazism. — Alpina Non-Fiction, 2025.

    2. Ivan Davydov. People and Cities: A Guide to Medieval Russia. — Individuum, Moscow, 2025.

    3. Lev Masiel Sánchez. Domes, Palaces, Houses of Culture: The History and Meanings of Russian Architecture. — Individuum, Moscow, 2024.

    4. Alexander Meshcheryakov. Nameless Japan: Demographic, Historical and Human Dimensions. — Linguistics Publishing, Moscow, 2023.

    This year’s Enlightener Prize shortlist was selected by a jury chaired by Andrei Zorin, a cultural historian, literary scholar, until recently a professor at the University of Oxford, and one of the leading scholars of Russian intellectual history. The jury members were:

    Aglaya Asheshova — President of the Turgenev Library Association in Paris, Head of the Russian Book Collection at the University Library of Languages and Civilisations (BULAC), and a member of Memorial France.

    Nadezhda Pankova — winner of the 2025 Enlightener Prize, PhD in Biology, Senior Research Fellow at the Oka Nature Reserve, and essayist.

    Andrei Shary — winner of the 2025 Enlightener Prize, journalist and writer.

    Yaroslav Shimov — winner of the 2025 Enlightener Prize, PhD in History, historian, essayist and translator.

    Maria Kondratova — PhD in Biology, molecular biologist, and winner of the 2024 Enlightener Prize.

    Andrei Konyaev — Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and publisher of N+1.

    ENLIGHTENER. TRANSLATION PRIZE
    Natural and Exact Sciences Category

    1. Kenneth Catania. Great Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels, and Other Tales of Evolution's Mysteries Solved. Translated from English by Anastasia Kovalenko; scientific editor Ivan Starikov; editors Anna Yefimova and Ekaterina Lebedeva. — Sindbad, Moscow, 2025.

    2. Ben Orlin. Math with Bad Drawings. Translated from English by Maria Yeliferova; scientific editor Konstantin Knop; editor Pyotr Favorov. — Alpina Non-Fiction, Moscow, 2025.

    3. Stephen Robertson. Before Computers: Information Technology from Writing to the Age of Digital Data. Translated from English by Alexey Korolev; literary editor Olga Kirillova. — HSE Publishing House, Moscow, 2025.

    4. Menno Schilthuizen. Nature's Nether Regions: What the Sex Lives of Bugs, Birds, and Beasts Tell Us About Evolution, Biodiversity, and Ourselves. (Russian edition: Like Animals: What the Intimate Lives of Insects, Birds and Mammals Tell Us About Evolution, Biodiversity and Ourselves). Translated from English by Polina Inozemtseva; editor Anna Vysochkina. — Bombora, Moscow, 2026.

    Humanities Category

    1. Kevin Birmingham. The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses. Translated from English by Alexandra Glebovskaya; scientific editor Sergey Divakov; editor Olga Nizhelskaya. — Alpina Non-Fiction, Moscow, 2026.

    2. Paul W. Werth. 1837: Russia's Quiet Revolution. Translated from English by Sergey Karpov. — New Literary Observer, Moscow, 2025.

    3. Roger Crowley. Spice: The Sixteenth-Century Contest That Shaped the Modern World. Translated from English by Olga Korchevskaya; edited by Olga Nizhelskaya. — Alpina Non-Fiction, Moscow, 2026.

    4. Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre. Freedom at Midnight. Translated from English by Olga Grinkrug; scientific editor Ilya Spektor; editor Nikita Sokolov. — CORPUS, Moscow, 2026.

    The finalists for the Enlightener. Translation Prize were selected by a jury chaired by Lev Oborin, a poet, literary critic, translator and editor of the Polka project. The jury members were:

    Ekaterina Aksenova — author of the Telegram channel and blog about popular science books prometa.pro, host of a wide range of book clubs, and co-director of the Enlightener Book Club.

    Yulia Sineokaya — Doctor of Philosophy and historian of philosophy, Panthéon-Sorbonne.

    Viktor Sonkin — philologist, journalist and translator, PhD in Philology, and winner of the 2013 Enlightener Prize.

    The winners of the Enlightener Prize and the Enlightener. Translation Prize in the Natural and Exact Sciences and Humanities categories, as well as the Biography special category, will be announced on 19 November.