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Some of the German prize-winning books in the UL's collection.

n Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts -- Eugen Ruge.

The Library makes use of German literary prizes as a guide to modern literature worth collecting. The federal decentralised structure of Germany means that there is a plethora of such prizes, some awarded by academies and academic bodies and some by individual towns and cities. As there are so many, we have to be selective and select a few major ones. They fall into four main categories:

  1. Prizes which recognise life-time achievement
    Georg-Büchner-Preis, awarded by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt. The 2011 winner is Friedrich Christian Delius. Please see here for our holdings of Delius.
    Joseph-Breitbach-Preis, awarded by the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz and the Stiftung Joseph Breitbach in Vaduz. The 2011 winner is Hans Joachim Schädlich. Please see here for our holdings of Schädlich.
  2. Newer prizes which recognise individual works
    Deutscher Buchpreis, awarded by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels in Frankfurt am Main. The 2011 winner is In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts by Eugen Ruge (C202.d.6702). See here for reviews in German newspapers.
    Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse (Belletristik), awarded by the Leipziger Buchmesse. The 2011 winner is Die Liebe zur Zeit des Mahlstädter Kindes by Clemens J. Setz (C202.d.4821). See here for reviews in German newspapers.
  3. Prizes which recognise new writers
    Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis, awarded by the town of Klagenfurt in Austria. The 2011 prize went to Maja Haderlap for a chapter of her novel Engel des Vergessens (C202.d.6870). See here for reviews in German newspapers.
    Clemens-Brentano-Preis, awarded by the town of Heidelberg. The 2011 winner is Tschick by Wolfgang Herrndorf (C202.d.3341). See here for reviews in German newspapers.
  4. Prize specific to poetry
    Peter-Huchel-Preis, awarded by the broadcaster Südwestrundfunk together with the state of Baden-Württemberg. The 2011 winner is Geistersehen by Marion Poschmann (C202.d.1265). See here for reviews in German newspapers.