City of Chemnitz awards Stefan Heym sponsorship prizes
Additional support for projects and initiatives worth 20,000 euros
As part of the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz, Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig is awarding the Stefan Heym Sponsorship Prizes for the first time. In addition to the International Stefan Heym Prize, the sponsorship prizes totalling 20,000 euros will be awarded to projects and initiatives in the fields of research and estate management for scholarships and to support student projects that deal with the life and work of Stefan Heym in a special way. In this way, the City of Chemnitz aims to pass on Stefan Heym's work to future generations and at the same time further increase the impact and significance of the prize.
Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "Stefan Heym has intervened in social and political debates with his work. He argued in favour of moral values and defended them. We also want to encourage young people to engage with the person and work of Stefan Heym. That is why we will be supporting additional initiatives, research and projects. I cordially invite all school pupils, students and doctoral candidates to apply for the Stefan Heym Sponsorship Awards. For young people in particular, we want to create a link to the life of Stefan Heym, who took his first literary steps as a young man."
The sponsorship awards are made possible by an amendment to the statutes governing the awarding of the International Stefan Heym Prize, which was approved by Chemnitz City Council in June of this year.
Individuals, initiatives, institutions, private and public organisations and associations can apply for funding. The funded projects have around three years until the next Stefan Heym Prize award ceremony to be realised. To apply for funding, a description of the project to be funded (max. two pages in DIN A4 format) and a cost breakdown must be submitted. The application form can be downloaded from the Internet:
The application deadline is 31 January 2017.
The Board of Trustees for the International Stefan Heym Prize will decide who receives the award. The patron of the Board of Trustees is Inge Heym. The Board of Trustees comprises nine members:
- the Lord Mayor of the City of Chemnitz,
- the President of the P.E.N. Centre Germany,
- the President of the Goethe-Institut,
- the head of the publishing group C. Bertelsmann publishing group,
- the Chairman of the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM) - German Section,
- two members of the Cultural Committee of the City of Chemnitz,
- the Chairwoman of the International Stefan Heym Society and
- Prof Dr Bernadette Malinowski, Professor of Modern German and Comparative Literature, Chemnitz University of Technology.
The International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz is awarded in memory of the son and honorary citizen of the city to contemporary and courageous personalities who, like Stefan Heym, have made outstanding and lasting achievements as writers or publicists. Previous winners include Amos Oz (2008), Bora Ćosić (2011) and Christoph Hein (2013). In April 2017, the International Stefan Heym Prize will be awarded to the Polish writer and journalist Joanna Bator.
(You can find out more about this in press release 599).