October 6, 2017, in the municipal public library. Zofia Nasierowskiej in Elk Pageant was held and the International Literary Contest of Siegfried Lenz's "Face of Europe". Guest of honour ceremony was Mrs. Ulla Lenz was the wife of the writer. The competition was held under the patronage of the Mayor of the city of Elk and the Foundation of Siegfried Lenz. The total prize pool was $10 000.

The aim of the competition was to increase interest in the written word, and contemporary literature. As well as encouraging to express their emotions, feelings, beliefs, and the courts in the literature.

Winners of the competition:

·         Place I-Krzysztof Rejmer-"Two musical scores for include the cuckoo and humpback whales" (5000)

·         Place the II-Anna Piliszewska-"Eclipse" (3000)

·         Place III-Alfred Siatecki-"something to say" (2000)

In addition, the jury selected 7:

·         Agata March-"Hauled Off"

·         Marek Otwinowski-"stranger in the Stork nest"

·         Dagmara Tomczyk-"red box"

·         Katarzyna Nowak-"sacred cows"

·         Malgorzata Dorota Pieńkowska-"Fatherland"

·         Anita Stawik-"Chuchelna"

·         Janusz Koryl-"40 scenes from the life of a European"

All featured participants received prizes, and a special award-literary workshop "the art of detail", conducted by Michael Olszewski.

I'm glad that the contest was accepted with great enthusiasm, resulting in application until 119 works at a very high level, many of which were extremely creative and substantive value. I would like to produce a publication which will feature all awarded in the contest works – in addition will be translated to German , said Tomasz Andrukiewicz, President of Elk.

Whereas the large interest in this type of competition, and the works of Siegfried Lenz – honorary citizen of Elk, President of Tomasz Andrukiewicz announced in 2018, the organisation of the literary festival and the second edition of the competition.

The jury selected the winners:

·         Marta Fox-novelist, poet, essayist

·         Dr ks. Jerzy Sikora-poet, literary critic, essayist

·         Prof. zw. Prof. Jarosław Ławski-writer, researcher of literature

·         Iwona Adeszko-Director of the MBP. Zofia Nasierowskiej

Siegfried Lenz
A prominent German writer born in 1926 in Elk, died in 2014.
The Author Of The "Museum Of The Native Land", "The German Lesson", "Sweet Sulejki".

In his literary reference to the cultural heritage of the family. He was involved in the Polish-German reconciliation process. Lenz's book was translated into 22 languages and appeared in 30 countries.

On October 18, 2011, Siegfried Lenz in Elk honorary citizen of the city. The ceremony was attended by almost 300 guests from the Polish and from abroad.