The Cikada Prize is a Swedish literary prize for East Asian poets. It was founded in 2004 following the 100th anniversary celebration commemorating of the birth of Swedish Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson.[1] The award consists of a diploma, 30,000 SEK and a piece of ceramic art designed by the Swedish ceramics artist Gunilla Sundström.[citation needed]
The award was initially (the first five prizes) presented in cooperation with the European Institute of Japanese Studies (EIJS) at the Stockholm School of Economics, the spa hotel Yasuragi, Judiska Teatern (The Jewish Theater), Östasieninstitutet (East Asia Institute) and Nyteboden. It has been financed by the Swedish Institute since 2013.[citation needed]
The name of the prize was inspired by Martinson's poetry collection Cikada, which was published in 1953 (Cikada is Swedish for the insect family Cicadidae). In this collection is also included the first 29 poems of his work Aniara, "The Song about Doris and Mima". The atomic bombs in Japan, followed by the construction of the world's first H-bomb in 1953, had a significant impact on Martinson's writing, which is reflected in Aniara. The prize focuses on East Asian poets, writing in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, not only because of Martinson's interest in East Asian literature, but also because the initiators of the prize believe poetry written in these languages deserves better recognition.[citation needed]