It was first granted by Mihelač Publishing House and Dnevnik Newspaper, but since 1998 it has been administered by the Marjan Rožanc Fund, which was established by Mihelač Publishing House and Nova revija Publishing House. The award was named after one of the most important Slovene essayists, Marjan Rožanc.
Writer Drago Jančar won the Rožanc Award three times: in 1993, in 1995 and most recently in 2006 for his book The Soul of Europe. In 2007 there were two winners: Aleš Šteger and Igor Zabel. In 2008 and 2009 the prize went to Dušan Jovanović (The World Is a Play) and Ifigenija Simonović (Places), respectively.