Jury nominates six novels for the shortlist

The jury has made its selection: The six finalists for the German Book Prize 2011 have been chosen. “The decision was not an easy one for us and we struggled hard for a day to come to our final conclusion”, said jury spokeswoman Maike Albath, journalist for the Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur. “West German anti-idylls are represented on the list alongside laconic social novels on the GDR. The protagonists are weighed down by homeland and origin. Complicated family relationships often serve as case studies. The reader gains insight into not only the East German underclass and nomenklatura, but also West German student life, the East Frisian countryside and the globalised environment of a security firm”, said Albath. Over the last five months, the seven jury members have reviewed 198 titles published between October 2010 and September 14, 2011. 

The nominated novels (in alphabetical order): 

•   Jan Brandt, Gegen die Welt (DuMont, August 2011)

•   Michael Buselmeier, Wunsiedel (Das Wunderhorn, March 2011)

•   Angelika Klüssendorf, Das Mädchen (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, August 2011)

•   Sibylle Lewitscharoff, Blumenberg (Suhrkamp, September 2011)

•   Eugen Ruge, In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts (Rowohlt, September 2011)

•   Marlene Streeruwitz, Die Schmerzmacherin. (S. Fischer, September 2011)

In addition to Maike Albath, jury members for the German Book Prize 2011 include: Gregor Dotzauer (Der Tagesspiegel), Ulrike Draesner (author), Clemens-Peter Haase (†, Goethe Institute), Ina Hartwig (independent critic), Christine Westermann (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) and Uwe Wittstock (Focus). 

The winner will receive 25,000 euros; the five finalists will each receive 2,500 euros. The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Stiftung will award the German Book Prize 2011 to the best German-language novel of the year. The prize will be awarded on 10 October 2011 at the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Kaisersaal of the Frankfurt Römer. 

Partners of the German Book Prize include Paschen & Companie, the Frankfurter Sparkasse Foundation, the Frankfurt Book Fair and the city of Frankfurt am Main. The television station Deutsche Welle serves as a media partner of the German Book Prize both at home and abroad. The radio stations Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur will broadcast the ceremony live as part of the “Dokumente und Debatten” programme on LW 153 and 177 kHz, on MW 990 kHz, as a live stream online at http://www.dradio.de/ and on digital satellite radio DAB+. 

Excerpts from the nominated novels are available for free download at http://deutscherbuchpreis.libreka.de/. They can be downloaded and read on a computer or e-reader. Starting at the end of September 2011, excerpts from the shortlisted titles will also be presented in English translation on the website http://www.signandsight.com/, along with an English dossier on the shortlist. 

Additional information on the German Book Prize 2011 and award recipient appearances at the Frankfurt Book Fair can be found at http://www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/. 

Frankfurt am Main, 14 September 2011  

Contact for the media:  
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.
Claudia Paul, Director, Press and Public Relations
Telephone +49 (0) 69 1306-293, E-mail: paul@boev.de
Johannes Neufeld, Press Assistant
Telephone +49 (0) 69 1306-292, E-mail: neufeld@boev.de