The preselection has been made: 20 books are on the long list for the German Book Prize.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – A total of 20 authors can hope for the German Book Prize 2021.
Among others, Christian Kracht, Heinz Strunk, Shida Bazyar, Franzobel, Monika Helfer and Franziska Hoppe made it onto the shortlist with their new novels, as the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels announced on Tuesday in Frankfurt. Among the 20 nominees are Mithu Sanyal with her first novel “Identitti” and the Bachmann Prize winner Ferdinand Schmalz with his debut novel “My favorite animal is called Winter”.
“The jury is pleased to have made a selection with the longlist that honors the narrative experiment as well as the realistic novel, the comic and the surreal,” said jury spokesman Knut Cordsen, culture editor at Bayerischer Rundfunk. “These 20 books look at origins and history as well as central questions of the present.”
After the jury has initially selected 20 titles for the so-called longlist, this will be shortened to six titles, the shortlist, on September 21. The winner will be announced at the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony will take place on October 18th.
The German Book Prize is one of the most important awards in the industry and has been awarded since 2005. Last year it went to Anne Weber for her novel “Annette, a heroine epic”.