German Youth Literature Prize

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Bronze award statue Momo for the German Youth Literature Award, designed by Detlef Kraft

The German Youth Literature Prize (until 1981: German Youth Book Prize ) is a state prize for literature. It was founded in 1956 by the then Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and is awarded annually. Outstanding works of children's and youth literature are honored. The organization of pricing and organization is the responsibility of the Working Group for Youth Literature (AKJ). The money for the organization of the German Youth Literature Prize comes from the Federal Children's and Youth Plan (KJP). This funding budget of the federal government is intended for political and cultural child and youth work, the German Youth Literature Prize is therefore committed to children and young people.

General

From the beginning, the German Youth Literature Prize was also an international prize: In addition to German-language children's and youth books, titles by foreign-language authors can also be submitted, provided they have been translated into German. Since 1996, in addition to the prize money, the winners have received a bronze sculpture that is based on Michael Ende's fictional character Momo .

The aim of the German Youth Literature Prize is to strengthen children and young people in their personality with the help of a qualitatively convincing and diverse range of literature and to offer them orientation.

A jury of critics, consisting of nine adult jurors, awards the German Youth Literature Prize in the categories of picture books, children's books, youth books and non-fiction. At the same time, an independent youth jury awards the prize to the youth jury. The juries examine the books from the previous year's production and nominate six titles per category. The list of nominations is announced every year at the Leipzig Book Fair .

The nominations are the basis for the decision of the juries, which award their prizes independently of each other. The prizes are endowed with 10,000 euros per category and can be divided between authors, illustrators and translators. The winners of the German Youth Literature Prize are announced annually at the Frankfurt Book Fair . Since 1991, a special prize has been awarded for the complete works of a German author, a German illustrator or a German translator of children's literary works, endowed with 12,000 euros. In 2017, the “New Talents” special prize of 10,000 euros was awarded for the first time. The prize money amounts to a total of 72,000 euros.

The German Youth Literature Prize is the most important prize awarded in Germany for literature for children and young people. The reputation of the award is demonstrated by the fact that festivals such as the Harbourfront Literature Festival, lit.kid.cologne of lit.cologne or the children's and youth program of the Berlin International Literature Festival invite numerous award winners each year.

story

Before 1981 the prize was called the “German Youth Book Prize”. Since the German Youth Literature Prize was founded, the calls for proposals have been changed many times. In the early days from 1956 to 1963, there were only awards in the two categories of children's and young people's books as well as an additional special award, which had a different motto every year, e.g. B. Most beautiful fairy tale book, best picture book, best non-fiction book or similar. In 1964 the thematic special price was abolished and the price was instead expanded to include the categories picture book and non-fiction book in the next few years. In addition, from 1964 it was possible to honor special individual achievements such as illustrations or translations. In 1991, on the occasion of the “35. Birthday ”the special prize was donated for a complete work. Since then, a living German author, illustrator or translator has been honored annually (with the exception of 1992). For the 60th anniversary of the award, the special “New Talents” award was introduced. This is awarded to German authors, illustrators and translators who have published at least one outstanding literary work in the field of children's and youth literature in German-speaking countries in previous years.

Federal Minister Katarina Barley (right) with the special award winner Gudrun Pausewang at the award ceremony for the German Youth Literature Award 2017 (photographer: Anna Meuer)
Federal Minister Manuela Schwesig (right) with the winner of the children's book category, Martina Wildner (center) and the presenter Vivian Perkovic (left) at the award ceremony for the German Youth Literature Prize 2014 (photographer: José Poblete)
Group photo of the winners at the award ceremony of the German Youth Literature Prize 2015 (Photographer: José Poblete)

Jury of critics

The jury of critics is elected to this honorary position by the board of the working group for youth literature for a period of two years and appointed by the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth. The jury members can complete a maximum of two terms in a row. The jury consists of nine people: the chairman and eight jurors, two of whom are experts in the categories of picture books, children's books, young people's books and non-fiction. In three jury meetings spread over the year, the selected titles are viewed, the nominations determined and the winning titles selected. All members of the jury have the same voting rights for all categories. The results of the election are subject to confidentiality until they are announced at the award ceremony at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Critics jury 2021/2022

  • Chair: Karin Vach
  • Divisional judges picture book: Christiane Benthin, Stefanie Hetze
  • Children's book division judges: Rebekka Putzke, Michael Stierstorfer
  • Section judges for young people's books: Ulrike Schönherr, Dieter Wrobel
  • Section judges non-fiction: Renate Grubert, Marlene Zöhrer

Critics jury 2019/2020

  • Chair: Jan Standke
  • Divisional jurors picture book: Christiane Benthin, Maren Bonacker
  • Children's book division judges: Nicole Filbrandt, Bettina Braun
  • Section judges for young people's books: Ulrike Schönherr, Karin Vach
  • Section judges non-fiction: Renate Grubert, Marlene Zöhrer

Critics jury 2017/2018

  • Chair: Birgit Müller-Bardorff
  • Divisional judges picture book: Maren Bonacker, Christine Hauke-Dreesen
  • Divisional judges children's book: Anita Schilcher, Birgit Weidt (2017) / Nicole Filbrandt (2018)
  • Section judges for young people's books: Inger Lison, Jan Standke
  • Section judges non-fiction: Anke Märk-Bürmann, Carola Pohlmann

Critics jury 2015/2016

  • Chair: Birgit Müller-Bardorff
  • Picture book division: Felix Giesa, Christine Hauke-Dreesen
  • Children's book division: Ada Bieber, Nicole Filbrandt
  • Youth book division: Ulrike Erb-May, Inger Lison
  • Non-fiction category: Anke Märk-Bürmann, Carola Pohlmann

Critics jury 2013/2014

  • Chair: Gina Weinkauff
  • Picture book division: Antje Ehmann, Felix Giesa
  • Children's book division: Ute Dettmar, Ines Galling
  • Youth book division: Ulrike Erb-May, Miriam G. Möllers
  • Non-fiction category: Susanne Brandt , Ute Henschel

Critics jury 2011/2012

  • Chair: Susanne Helene Becker
  • Picture book division: Antje Ehmann, Monika Trapp
  • Children's book division: Ina Brendel-Perpina, Miriam G. Möllers
  • Youth book division: Ulf Cronenberg, Annette Kliewer
  • Non-fiction category: Heike Elisabeth Jüngst , Ute Henschel

Critics jury 2009/2010

  • Chair: Susanne Helene Becker
  • Picture book division: Ute Hachmann, Thomas Linden
  • Children's book division: Susanne Graf, Sabine Lippert
  • Youth book division: Ulf Cronenberg, Katrin Maschke
  • Non-fiction category: Heike Elisabeth Jüngst, Monika Trapp

Youth jury

The youth jury for the German Youth Literature Prize is an independent jury in which around 100 young people annually draw up a list of nominations and award a prize. The working group for youth literature e. V. has thus further developed the participation of young people in pricing, which has existed since 1972. It is important to him to certify the young people's work in the context of the youth jury. They have been recognized since 2008 with an education pass, the culture competence certificate. The youth jury is made up of six reading clubs spread across the Federal Republic of Germany, elected by the board of the working group for youth literature for a term of two years and appointed by the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth:

Youth jury 2021/2022

Youth jury 2019/2020

Youth jury 2017/2018

  • Reading Club 2.0 of the Klingler bookstore, Hainburg ( Hesse )
  • Augustiniok reading club of the Augustiniok bookstore, Waldkirch ( Baden-Württemberg )
  • Reading Club of the Integrated Comprehensive School, the Konrad Adenauer Realschule and the Schiller Gymnasium , Cologne ( North Rhine-Westphalia )
  • Pankow Reading Club of the Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymnasium and the Buchlokal bookstore ( Berlin )
  • Reading Teens of the Christiansen bookstore ( Hamburg )
  • Würzburg youth reading club "Bookmarks" of the Neuer Weg bookstore, Würzburg ( Bavaria )

Youth jury 2015/2016

  • Reading group of the St. Elisabeth Mountain School, Heilbad Heiligenstadt ( Thuringia )
  • Reading Club 2.0 of the Klingler bookstore, Hainburg ( Hesse )
  • Reading club of the Konrad-Adenauer-Realschule , Cologne ( North Rhine-Westphalia )
  • Munich book eater of the Buchpalast bookstore, Munich ( Bavaria )
  • Pankow Reading Club of the Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymnasium and the Buchlokal bookstore ( Berlin )
  • Reading Teens of the Christiansen bookstore ( Hamburg )

Youth jury 2013/2014

  • The Munich book eaters of the Waldmann bookstore, Munich (Bavaria)
  • Beckum Youth Reading Club of the Evangelical Church Community Beckum , (North Rhine-Westphalia)
  • Reading group of the St. Elisabeth mountain school, Bad Heiligenstadt (Thuringia)
  • LEPORELLO reading club of the Leporello bookstore (Berlin)
  • www.die-blaue-seite.de - Reading Club of the Book Pirates e. V., Lübeck ( Schleswig-Holstein )
  • Book eater Fulda of the Children's Academy and the City Library (Fulda) (Hesse)

Youth jury 2011/2012

  • cg reading club of the Clavius ​​grammar school in Bamberg (Bavaria)
  • The bestsellers - reading club of the Uhland-Realschule ( Baden-Württemberg )
  • Beckum Youth Reading Club - the Evangelical Church Community of Beckum (North Rhine-Westphalia)
  • Leipzig Youth Literature Jury of the Leipzig City Library
  • www.die-blaue-seite.de - Reading Club of the Book Pirates e. V., Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein)
  • Spandau Youth Jury of the Spandau City Library

Youth jury 2009/2010

  • cg reading club of the Clavius ​​grammar school in Bamberg
  • Do it - read a book! - the reading club of the municipal secondary school in Wermelskirchen
  • Leipzig Youth Literature Jury of the Leipzig City Library
  • Literary salon of the Salzmann School in Schnepfenthal
  • Reading teens at the Christiansen bookstore in Hamburg
  • Spandau Youth Jury of the Spandau City Library

Youth jury 2007/2008

Price books and nomination lists

Since 1956, around 2,800 books have been honored with the award - be it as award winners, on the shortlist and later on the nomination list, or as part of the special award for a complete work. All titles were indexed in a database.

2020–2011

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the award ceremony could not take place at the Frankfurt Book Fair . Instead, the winners were announced on October 16, 2020 via live streaming from the Grips Theater in Berlin . Some of the winners were switched live via the "Zoom Meeting" .

2019

The winners were announced on October 18, 2019 at the Frankfurt Book Fair .

2018

The winners were announced on October 12, 2018 at the Frankfurt Book Fair .

2017

The winners were announced on October 13, 2017 at the Frankfurt Book Fair .

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010-2001

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000-1986

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1990

1989

1988

1987

  • Picture book: You started! No you! by David McKee
  • Children's book: Grandma and I by Achim Bröger
  • Youth book: Letters to the Queen of the Night by Inger Edelfeldt
  • Children's non-fiction : My lost land by Huynh Quang Nhuong (text), Jub Mönster (illustration), Helga Pfetsch (translation)
  • Non-fiction for young people: Lise, atomic physicist by Charlotte Kerner

1986

1985-1971

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

1979

1978

1977

1976

1975

1974

1973

1972

1971

1970-1956

1970

1969

1968

1967

1966

1965

1964

1963

1962

1961

1960

1959

1958

1957

1956

criticism

1960s and 1970s

In 1962, Arianna Giachi wrote in the FAZ on November 23 that the prize was “a misappropriation of federal funds that were intended to promote German youth literature”. 1971 criticized Sybille Countess Schönfeldt in the time : "Can the honorable intention of the state to prämiieren so-called good children's literature, to preserve the so-called children from poor reading ever be outdated? The books that have now been awarded the German Youth Book Prize in Würzburg allow only one answer: Yes - this prize has become superfluous, even if its forty or fifty jurors should not have noticed. ”Her criticism is primarily concerned on the five books that were awarded in 1971: "Five books that you can't say much against, but also not much for it, a cautious noble average, a somewhat ideal world, a little authority: children are still the quickest to learn good behavior through fear and terror."

2000s

In 2002, the publisher Otokar Bozejovski criticized the allegedly poor quality of the award winners in the picture book category in an open letter: "The German Youth Literature Prize, especially in the picture book category, is no longer an award." Klaus Humann faced this blanket criticism in an open letter counter: “But the nomination list almost always attracted attention because it combined the common with the daring, the shrill with the sedate. And that's a good thing and should stay that way. The jury was also wished for this daring in their final award decision. With your blanket and unjust criticism, you have done neither yourself nor the cause of picture and children's books a good service. "

2010s

It was criticized that the German Youth Literature Prize is the only state prize for literature in Germany to be awarded exclusively internationally; in contrast to most prices in other countries, which are reserved for domestic authors. Wolfgang Bittner wrote on January 25, 2012 in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung under the heading “A state award for licenses from abroad?” About the award: “German authors have been shown to have been disadvantaged in a way that seems scandalous in the past decades. They hardly have a chance of ever receiving their state prize for the promotion of German children's and youth literature, and they also get nothing abroad because the state prizes there, like many other literary prizes, are reserved for their own authors. In addition, in addition to the original German editions from the previous year, licensed editions will be awarded, that is, books that have long since proven themselves on the market in other countries and some have received awards. "

Thomas Thiemeyer , author and illustrator, reacted to the content “ falsified by certain media” ( Rainer M. Schröder ): “In a country in which less than two hundred writers (very few of them young authors) can make a living from their work , it is sheer cynicism to believe that one does not need species protection. Every straw is important here, every scholarship, every grant and every award. At first sight, it may be about better positioning in the book trade, about advertising budgets and advantages in licensing business, but ultimately this is about preserving diversity in youth literature. Giving state, tax-funded prizes to authors and novels who have already been successful abroad and have received prize money there is an act of thoughtlessness that accelerates the impoverishment of the book market and fosters a book scene dominated by Anglo-American literature. Refuges and biotopes are essential to avoid monoculture and preserve diversity. Anyone who claims otherwise fails to understand the economic situation on the book market. ”The working group for youth literature, the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Research as well as various experts commented on the criticism of the internationality.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German Youth Literature Prize. In: www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org. Retrieved April 8, 2016 .
  2. ↑ database
  3. ↑ Online award ceremony. In: jugendliteratur.org. Working group for youth literature, accessed on October 14, 2020 .
  4. ↑ The winners of the German Youth Literature Prize 2019 at jugendliteratur.org
  5. ↑ The list of nominations for the German Youth Literature Award 2017 is fixed in: buchmarkt.de, 23 March 2017
  6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated November 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de
  7. ^ Criticism of the youth literature award: Open letter from bohem press publisher
  8. ↑ First reaction to the open letter from the bohem press publisher
  9. ↑ Open letter , initiative of German-speaking authors of books for children and young people and illustrators
  10. ^ Wolfgang Bittner: German Youth Literature Prize: A State Prize for Licenses from Abroad? NRhZ-Online , January 25, 2012
  11. ↑ Statements from authors, illustrators and editors , Initiative DJLP
  12. ↑ Statistics and expert opinions on the internationality of the German Youth Literature Prize