Four authors are shortlisted for the German Book Prize this year. Nominees are Martina Hefter (“Hey good morning, how are you?”), Maren Kames (“Hasenprosa”), Clemens Meyer (“Die Projektoren”), Ronya Othmann (“Seventy-Four”)Markus Thielemann (“Thunder rolls from the north”) and Iris Wolff (“Lichtungen”). This is the shortlist published by the jury in Frankfurt.
The winner will be announced on October 14. The German Book Prize will be awarded the day before the Frankfurt Book Fair begins. The authors will not find out who has won until the evening of the awards ceremony.
“For the shortlist of the German Book Prize 2024, we have selected novels that explore the light and darkness of our recent history in new ways, that also overcome narrative boundaries and are great literary adventures,” said jury spokesperson Natascha Freundel.
The coveted award for German-language literature will be presented for the 20th time this year. The seven-member jury reviewed a total of 197 novels from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The works have been published since October 2023 or are yet to be published.
The so-called longlist was published in August and still had 20 names on it. The book prize is awarded by the Foundation for Book Culture and Reading Promotion of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association.
It is endowed with a total of 37,500 euros: the winner receives 25,000 euros, the other authors on the shortlist 2,500 euros each. In 2023, the Austrian author Tonio Schachinger was awarded the German Book Prize for his novel “Echtzeitalter”.