The jury

Knut Cordsen

Knut Cordsen, born in Kiel in 1972, attended the Deutsche Journalistenschule (German School of Journalism) und studied communications, political science and sociology at Ludwig Maximilians University. Since 1997, he has been working in the culture department of Bayerischer Rundfunk and for other institutions of the German broadcaster ARD, among other things as a literary critic and presenter on the programmes "kulturWelt" and "Diwan. Das Büchermagazin" (Bayern 2).

Bettina Fischer

Bettina Fischer, born in Hamburg in 1967, is director of the Literaturhaus Köln. She is a member of the juries of the Rolf-Dieter-Brinkmann-Stipendium der Stadt Köln (Rolf Dieter Brinkmann scholarship of the city of Cologne) and Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis/Großer Preis des Deutschen Literaturfonds (Kranichsteiner literary prize/grand prize of the German Literature Fund), among others. In 2018, she cofounded Literaturszene Köln e.V., where she is active in Litprom e.V., among other things. Together with Dagmar Fretter she edited the anthology "Eigentlich Heimat" (Düsseldorf 2014).

Anja Johannsen

Anja Johannsen, born in 1974, is director of the Literarisches Zentrum Göttingen and founder of various projects, including as part of the Netzwerk der Literaturhäuser (network of literature houses) – most recently, "Vom Unbehagen in der Fiktion". Following university studies in Berlin, Providence (USA) and Dublin and a doctorate on Anne Duden, Herta Müller and W. G. Sebald, she translated and proofread for German and foreign publishers and published on German and English-language contemporary literature. A literary scholar, she is the editor of the volume "Doing Contemporary Literature. Praktiken, Wertungen, Automatismen" (Fink 2012).

Richard Kämmerlings

Richard Kämmerlings, born in Hüls on the Lower Rhine in 1969, studied German language and literature, history and philosophy in Cologne and Tübingen. Since 2000, he has been an editor of the literature and arts section of "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" and, since 2010, at "Die Welt". From 2013 to 2017, he was director of the supplement "Literarische Welt"; since 2017, literary correspondent for "Die Welt" and "Die Welt am Sonntag". He has been a member of the jury of the Bremen Literature Prize since 2007. His book "Das kurze Glück der Gegenwart. Deutschsprachige Literatur seit ’89" (Klett-Cotta) was published in 2011. He lives in Berlin.

Sandra Kegel

Sandra Kegel is head of the literature and arts section of "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". Before that, she was editor for literature and literary life for many years. She is part of the permanent quartet of critics on the 3-Sat literary programme "Buchzeit" and a member of the juries of various literary awards. She studied German language and literature, Romance languages and literature, as well as theatre, film and media studies in Aix-en-Provence, Vienna and Frankfurt. She is a winner of the Ravensburger Medienpreis (Ravensburger media prize).

Beate Scherzer

Beate Scherzer, born in Berlin in 1953, began her life as a bookseller in 1968. From 1980 to 1990, she was an actor in the independent theatre scene, before returning to the book trade and making a new start in the Ruhr region: first, in the bookshop in the Grillo Theater and, in 2005, as co-founder and managing director of Proust Wörter + Töne, which won the Deutscher Buchhandlungspreis (German bookstore award) four times. She has been involved in planning and moderating literary events for 30 years.

Anne-Catherine Simon

Anne-Catherine Simon, born in Graz in 1975, works as an editor of the literature and arts section of the Austrian daily paper "Die Presse". She studied German language and literature and Romance languages and literature, as well as the violin in Vienna and Graz. Her publications include the book "Schnitzlers Wien". In 2019, she was a member of the jury of the Austrian Book Prize.

2021