German Book Prize
With the German Book Prize ( dbp ), the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels has been honoring the best German-language novel of the year since 2005 at the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair . In addition to the Frankfurt Book Fair, the partner is the Deutsche Bank Foundation . Up until 2007, the German Book Prize was supported by Spiegel-Verlag and Florian and Gabriele Langenscheidt . The German wave and the Germany radio cooperate with the Commercial Union. The author of the winning title will receive 25,000 euros, the five other finalists will each receive 2500 euros.
idea
The award realizes a high-ranking literary prize for the German-speaking region, comparable to the Prix Goncourt or the Booker Prize . In contrast to the German Book Prize and its successor, the Leipzig Book Fair Prize, five other novels are highlighted as finalists in addition to the main prize winner . The doping is equipped accordingly.
The selection process, accompanied by detailed media reports, extends over several months. In this way, increased publicity is achieved for the around 20 titles.
Selection process
Publishers from Germany , Austria and Switzerland apply with a maximum of two titles each from their production, which must have appeared in the period from October of the previous year to September of the award year. The German Book Prize Academy , to which nine to ten representatives of the book and media industry belong in addition to the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media , selects the jury , which changes annually . This usually consists of writers, journalists and literary booksellers.
The jury will view all entries and provides a 20 titles longlist together that will be published in August of the year award. From this selection, the jurors determine six finalists, which they will publish in September, the so-called shortlist . On the Monday before the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, the award-winning novel will be announced in the Kaisersaal of the Frankfurter Römers .
Award winners
Most of the awards were given to novels by authors with German citizenship (eleven wins), followed by their colleagues from Austria (two successes) and Switzerland (one victory). So far, no writer has won the German Book Prize more than once.
The publisher with the most award winners is Suhrkamp (four wins), followed by Jung and Jung , Luchterhand , Matthes & Seitz Berlin and Rowohlt (two wins each).
| year | Prize winner | title | publishing company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arno Geiger | We are fine | Carl Hanser |
| 2006 | Katharina Hacker | The have-nots | Suhrkamp |
| 2007 | Julia Franck | The midday woman | S. Fischer |
| 2008 | Uwe Tellkamp | The tower | Suhrkamp |
| 2009 | Kathrin Schmidt | You don't die | Kiepenheuer & Witsch |
| 2010 | Melinda Nadj Abonji | Pigeons fly up | Young and old |
| 2011 | Eugene Ruge | In times of waning light | Rowohlt |
| 2012 | Ursula Krechel | district Court | Young and old |
| 2013 | Terézia Mora | The monster | Luchterhand |
| 2014 | Lutz Seiler | Kruso | Suhrkamp |
| 2015 | Frank Witzel | The invention of the Red Army Faction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969 | Matthes & Seitz Berlin |
| 2016 | Bodo Kirchhoff | Incident | Frankfurt publishing house |
| 2017 | Robert Menasse | The capital | Suhrkamp |
| 2018 | Inger-Maria Mahlke | archipelago | Rowohlt |
| 2019 | Saša Stanišić | origin | Luchterhand |
| 2020 | Anne Weber | Annette, a heroine epic | Matthes & Seitz Berlin |
criticism
In 2008 a debate developed about the meaning of the price and its modalities. Several writers criticized an arbitrary selection based on “extra-literary” criteria and the compulsory attendance of the nominees. This was countered by the need to popularize high-quality literature.
The journalist Wolfram Schütte , on the other hand, in agreement with Monika Maron, canceled the price of being a book price. Rather, it is a question of a marketing prize that is "especially useful to the bestselling bookstore chains". In doing so, one loses sight of the globally unique quality of the German-language publishing industry, since most of the world's literature has been translated here.
Publication for the tenth award
In October 2014, just in time for the award of the tenth German Book Prize, a non-fiction book was published, the authors of which deal with the ritual of the award ceremony, the ongoing criticism of the regulations and the winning novels. The book also includes Game, Set and Match. 10 years of the German Book Prize (ed. Ingo Irsigler & Gerrit Lembke), written by Kiel students, exclusive interviews with Uwe Tellkamp, the book prize organizer Philippe Genet and Mirko Bonné.
See also
literature
- Anna Auguscik: Lost in Translation. Literature prizes in the national literature business . In: Philipp Theisohn, Christine Weder (Hrsg.): Literaturbetrieb. On the poetics of a production community . Fink, Paderborn 2013, pp. 97–112. ISBN 978-3-7705-5296-2 .
- Dennis Borghardt, Sarah Maaß: The German Book Prize and the German Book Awards. Between literary valorization and creative economic commercialization . In: literaturkritik.de . October 8, 2018.
- Petra Hartlieb: Whole days and half nights . In: The press . October 5, 2019, p. Supplement “Spectrum”, p. III (report by a Viennese bookseller about her work as a member of the jury for the German Book Prize 2019).
- Ingo Irsigler u. Gerrit Lembke (ed.): Game, set & victory. 10 years of the German Book Prize . Berlin University Press: Berlin, 2014. ISBN 978-3-86280-074-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ "Forum: What is the shortlist for the German Book Prize 2008 good for?" ( Memento from September 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , September 17, 2008
- ↑ Daniel Kehlmann : "Entworthy Spectacle" ( Memento from September 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), FAS , September 21, 2008
- ↑ Wolfram Schütte : Criticism (er) and the German Book Prize. For the promotion of German-language literature. , Cover culture magazine , September 29, 2008, accessed on February 24, 2018.