German Book Prize 2005: jury now selected

German Book Prize Academy chooses as jury members Verena Auffer-mann, Klaus Bittner, Volker Hage, Wolfgang Herles, Bodo Kirchhoff, Ar-min Thurnher and Juli Zeh / Publishing companies can submit titles with immediate effect / Announcement at www.deutscher-buchpreis.de

The jury is now in place for the German Book Prize 2005: Verena Auf-fermann (critic), Klaus Bittner (Buchhandlung Klaus Bittner), Dr. Volker Hage (DER SPIEGEL), Dr. Wolfgang Herles (Aspekte, ZDF), Dr. Bodo Kirchhoff (author), Armin Thurnher (Der Falter, Vienna) and Juli Zeh (author) will select the best German-language novel of 2005. The jurors have been chosen by the eleven members of the German Book Prize Academy which, alongside the state minister for culture and the arts, Christine Weiss, is made up of representatives of the book and media industry. With prize money totalling 37,500 euros, the award is presented for the first time by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels – German Publishers & Booksellers Association. Partners backing the German Book are Dr. Florian and Gabriele Langenscheidt, SPIEGEL-Verlag, the Frankfurt Book Fair and Frankfurt City. The presentation ce-remony will be held in the Kaisersaal at Frankfurt’s Römer on 17 October 2005, just before the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

“A jury is now in place for the first German Book Prize, with a literary competence that will ensure a successful selection of the ‘best German-language novel’. We have made a good start to securing international attention for literature from German-speaking regions in the same way as France’s Prix Goncourt or the Man Booker Prize in Britain”, according to Dr. Gottfried Honnefelder, publisher at DuMont Literatur und Kunst Verlag and chairman of the German Book Prize Academy.

The jury will choose the winner in the course of several selection stages. It first looks through all titles submitted by the publishing companies and prepares a long list of 20 titles which will be announced in August 2005. From these, the jury members select six titles for the short list which will be published in September. On the evening of the prize ceremony, the six authors will find out which of them is to receive the award. The winner receives prize money of 25,000 euros; the five other finalists each receive 2,500 euros.

In order to ensure the greatest possible independence for the German Book Prize, the German Book Prize Academy selects a new jury every year. The Academy is made up of: state minister for culture and the arts, Dr. Christina Weiss; Dieter Schormann (president of the Börsenverein); Dr. Gottfried Honnefelder (vice-president of the Börsenverein); Dr. Joa-chim Unseld (chairman of the Commercial Publishing Companies Group); Dr. Florian Langenscheid; Matthias Schmolz (publishing management SPIEGEL-Verlag); Volker Neumann (director of the Frankfurt Book Fair); Dr. Hendrik Markgraf (editor Börsenblatt); Elmar Krekeler (winner of the Alfred Kerr Prize for Literary Criticism 2004); Wilfried Weber (Hamburger Bücherstube Felix Jud) and Herbert Ohrlinger (programme director at Paul Zsolnay Verlag).

As from today through to 9 April 2005, publishing companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland can apply for the award by submitting two Ger-man-language novels each from their current or planned lists. To qualify for submission, publishers must be members of either the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, the Schweizer Buchhändler- und Verleger-Verband or the Hauptverband des Österreichischen Buchhandels. Books must be published some time between 1 October 2004 and 21 Septem-ber 2005 (announcement of the short list). Titles, galley proofs or reading copies can still be sent in up until 2 July 2005. The Börsenverein will mail out detailed information and submission forms over the coming days.

Frankfurt am Main, 2 February 2005

Claudia Paul
Press and Information Officer
Phone: +49 (0) 69 1306-293
E-mail: paul@boev.de

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Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels
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Claudia Paul
Press and Information Officer
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels
Phone: +49 (0) 69 1306-293
Telefax: +49 (0) 69 1306 - 294
E-Mail: paul@boev.de

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