The Cankar Award () is a literary award established in 2019 by the Slovenian PEN, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the University of Ljubljana. It is named after Ivan Cankar, Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. The first award was given in 2020. The Cankar Award honours the best original literary work in Slovenia, celebrating genres in which Ivan Cankar excelled. The award initially consisted of a â¬5,000 prize and a diploma. In 2024 the amount was increased to â¬7,000 .
The award was established in 2019 with the firs one given in 2020 in Vrhnika. The inaugural nominees for the 2020 award were Vinko Möderndorfer, Sebastijan Pregelj, Simona Semeniàand Brane SenegaÃÂnik. The 2023 nominees were Katja GoreÃÂan, Adriana KuÃÂi, Mojca Kumerdej, Mirana Likar and Lado Kralj.