Swiss Book Prize: Surprise at the 2020 Prize



[ad_1]

The young author Anna Stern received the 2020 Swiss Book Prize for her novel “Everything Here, Now”, announced on Sunday by the sponsors at the Basel Theater.

The writer Anna Stern, portrayed on 22 September 2020 in Rorschach (SG).

The writer Anna Stern, portrayed on 22 September 2020 in Rorschach (SG).

Gaëtan Bally / Keystone

(sda) / rep.

In the jury-winning work, Anna Stern describes the grieving process of a close friend who died at the age of 25. “That’s all, now” is equally the intimate protocol of a bereavement, a book of memories and also linguistically unusual – it is never quite clear whether the characters are a man or a woman. The book itself, published by the Zurich publishing house Elster & Salis, has an unusual design.

Furthermore, the jury’s decision in favor of the prolific author, born in 1990, is rather unexpected. But Anna Stern had “gained a whole new form and unprecedented tone” from one of the oldest topics in literature, according to the ground statement.

Reduced celebration

In addition to Stern, Dorothee Elmiger was nominated for the novel “From the Sugar Factory”, Tom Kummer for his novel “From Bad Parents”, Charles Lewinsky with “The Half Beard” and Karl Rühmann for “The Hero”.

The awards ceremony took place at the Basel Theater, but to a lesser extent due to the pandemic. Unlike in previous years, only the prize winner was present. Furthermore, the dates of the reading tour, which began at the Frankfurt Book Fair and conducted through Switzerland, Germany and Austria, could not take place. The makers also announced that the money sponsors normally spend on the celebration honoring the nominees will be paid to the authors this year.

83 observations

The Swiss Book Prize is endowed with 30,000 francs; the other four selected authors will each receive CHF 3,000. In September, the jury selected the five nominees from the 83 books submitted. German-language literary and non-fiction works by Swiss or Swiss authors that were published between October 2019 and September 2020 are eligible for the Swiss Book Prize 2020.

The Swiss Book Prize was awarded for the thirteenth time this year. It was initiated by the Literary Association of Basel and the Swiss Association of Booksellers and Publishers. The federal government does not support the prize, as the Swiss Book Prize only takes into account Swiss literature in the German language. Sibylle Berg (“GRM. Brainfuck”), Peter Stamm (“The Gentle Indifference of the World”) and Jonas Lüscher (“Kraft”) had won the award for the past three years.

[ad_2]
Source link