Literature Prize

A literary award is an award that is usually given to writers for special achievements in the field of literature . As a rule, a literary prize is awarded for an individual work or for the life's work of a writer. Literature prizes are an important part of the literary business .

Literature prizes are awarded at regular intervals by state institutions, associations, academies, foundations, publishers, associations or individuals. The award is usually associated with a sum of money, a medal or a scholarship.

Depending on the group of recipients, a distinction is made between international and national (including regional) literary awards. In German-speaking countries, the award of literary prizes has increased sharply since the 1970s. While Angelika Mechtel assumed around 200 prizes per year in 1972, Uwe Wittstock estimated the number at more than 700 in 2007. The Goethe-Institut named 1,331 individual awards for Germany alone in 2000, which was a top figure in Europe.

For some of the important international prizes, but also for the German Book Prize , for example , the selection of the winners leads to a shortlist from which the winner of the prize is ultimately determined by creating a so-called long list of candidates .

The best-known literary prizes include the Nobel Prize for Literature , the Pulitzer Prize , the Booker Prize , the Prix Goncourt , the Cervantes Prize , the Georg Büchner Prize and the European Book Prize .

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Ingo Irsigler: The German Book Prize: Concept, Goal and Award Practice. In: Literature for Readers. 38, 2/2015, ( literary business practices. ), Pp. 131–143.

Doris Moser: The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize. Stock exchange, show, event. (= Literary history in studies and sources. 9). Böhlau, Vienna et al. 2004.

Judith S. Ulmer: History of the Georg Büchner Prize. Sociology of a ritual. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006.

Sonja Vandenrath: Literature Awards . In: Erhard Schütz, Silke Bittkow, David Oels, Stephan Porombka, Thomas Wegmann (eds.): Das BuchMarktBuch. The literary business in basic terms. (= rowohlts encyclopedia. 55672). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2005, pp. 236–240.