De Luca wins 2016 Bad S-x in Fiction Award

Italian author Erri De Luca has recieved the 2016 Bad S-x in Fiction award, the Literary Review’s annual prize for ‘poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction’. De Luca won for his book The Day Before Happiness (Allen Lane), which was chosen from a shortlist of six. The judges said they were swayed by a particular sex scene that describes the characters as ‘ballet dancers hovering en pointe’, and stated ‘this adds a further accolade to De Luca’s already distinguished list of achievements’, which includes the European Prize for Literature in 2013 for his body of work. ‘The winning entry is a reminder that, even in the wake of Brexit, Bad Sex knows no borders,’ said the judges. The Bad S-x in Fiction award was established in 1993 to ‘draw attention to poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction’. The winner was announced at an event in London on 1 December, with De Luca’s publisher Allen Lane picking up the award despite the author being unavailable for comment. For more information, visit the Literary Review website here.

Category: International news