German Book Prize 2022: the 20 shortlisted novels

The jury for the German Novel Prize chose from 233 titles (a record) published between October 2021 and September 2022, which it examined, its list of 20 nominees. A new selection will be made public on September 20 and will reduce the finalists for the prize to six. The winner will be announced on October 17 at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair and will receive an endowment of €25,000. The five finalists will each walk away with €2,500. The list of 20 novels and their selected authors:

• Dschinns of Fatma Aydemir (Carl Hanser, 2022)
• Nebenan of Kristine Bilkau (Luchterhand, 2022)
• Lügen über meine Mutter of Daniela Dröscher (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2022)
• Freudenberg of Carl Christian Elze (AZURE, 2022)
• Auf See of Theresia Enzensberger (Carl Hanser, 2022)
• Trottel of Jan Factor (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2022)
• Aufruhr der Meerestiere of Marie Gamillscheg (Luchterhand, 2022)
• Blutbook of Horizon Kim (DuMont, 2022)
• Ein simpler Eingriff of Yael Inokai (Hanser Berlin, 2022)
• Wilderer of Reinhard Kaiser-Muhlecker (S. Fischer, 2022)
• Geschichte eines Kindes ofAnna Kim (Suhrkamp, ​​2022)
• Rombo ofEsther Kinsky (Suhrkamp, ​​2022)
• Dagegen die Elephanten! of Dagmar Leupold (Jung and Jung, 2022)
• Spitzweg ofEckhart Nickel (Piper, 2022)
• In Dschungeln. In Wusten. Im Krieg. of Gabriele Riedle (Die Andere Library, 2022)
• 153 Formen of the Nichtseins of Slata Roschal (homunculus, 2022)
• Kangal ofAnna Yeliz Schentke (S. Fischer, 2022)
• Phlox of Jochen Schmidt (CH Beck, 2022)
• Eine Liebe in Pjöngjang ofAndreas Stichmann (Rowohlt, 2022)
• Ein Sommer in Niendorf of Heinz Strunk (Rowohlt, 2022)

Jury spokeswoman Miriam Zeh, a journalist, said on German radio Deutschlandfunk Kultur that : ” among more than two hundred titles, an unprecedented number of applications, our choice fell on epic stories, eminently poetic and creative texts, which are freed from realism or the classic form of the novel. This first selection was made according to different criteria, which reflect the presence in the jury of different perspectives, stemming from mediation or literary criticism. Among the nominees for the German Book Prize 2022, there are established authors and authors, but also young voices, still little known to the general public. »

The other members of the jury are Erich Klein (freelance literary critic in Vienna), Frank Menden (stories! bookstore in Hamburg), Uli Ormanns (Agnes bookstore in Cologne), Isabelle Vonlanthen (House of Literature in Zurich), Selma Wels (curator and moderator in Frankfurt am Main) and Jan Wiele (of the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

The German Novel Prize is awarded by the Foundation for Book Culture and Reading Promotion of the Association of German Publishers and Booksellers (Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung du Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels). The prize is mainly endowed by the Deutsche Bank Stiftung, and benefits from a partnership with the municipality of Frankfurt am Main.