Five projects honoured with Stefan Heym awards
Lord Mayor Sven Schulze and Dr Ulrike Uhlig, Chair of the Board of the International Stefan Heym Society, presented the five winners of the International Stefan Heym Sponsorship Awards today.
"Inge Heym, Stefan Heym's widow, always emphasised how important it was for her husband to reach the younger generations with his works. In addition to the great literary works of contemporary and courageous writers and publicists, we also wanted to support other initiatives, research and projects by schoolchildren and students that keep Heym's work alive," said Lord Mayor Sven Schulze.
The awards are endowed with a total of 20,000 euros.
The winners are:
Material for school - "Go your own way" by Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer:
Through various participatory formats, Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer bring pupils at Chemnitz schools closer to the life and work of Stefan Heym.
In the spirit of Heym, they want to encourage young people to find their own way and get involved. Holiday workshops are planned to design banners, posters, flyers, bookmarks and short videos. The project will receive 7500 euros in prize money.
Index of persons for Stefan Heym's "Obituary" by Dr Jürgen Nitsche:
Dr Jürgen Nitsche uses Heym's autobiography as a starting point to open up the writer's immediate social environment in Chemnitz to all interested readers. The project receives 2500 euros in prize money.
Compositions to Heym's poems by Ludwig Streng:
Ludwig Streng uses music to create a new approach to Stefan Heym's lesser-known poetry and its genesis. The compositions will be played and recorded. The project will receive 2500 euros in prize money.
Concert readings of Stefan Heym's "Obituary" by Liv Heym:
Liv Heym, granddaughter of Stefan Heym, provides a musical accompaniment to Heym's "Obituary" and pays particular attention to the social component of the venues for her concert readings: In addition to public stages, voluntary performances are planned in schools, care homes, museums and prisons. The project will receive 4000 euros in prize money.
Interviews with contemporary witnesses by filmmaker Beate Kunath:
Seven companions of Stefan Heym recall personal encounters in interviews with Beate Kunath, opening up their very own perspective on Heym's work. The interviews will be filmed. The project will receive 3500 euros in prize money.
Award ceremony on 10 October
These five projects will also be awarded the sponsorship prizes at the award ceremony for the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz on 10 October in the Chemnitz Opera House.
On this evening, the Croatian writer Slavenka Drakulić and the Swedish author Richard Swartz will receive the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz. The literature prize is also endowed with 20,000 euros.
The award ceremony was originally planned for last year, but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus. "As the City of Chemnitz, it is particularly important to us to keep the work of Stefan Heym, our honorary citizen, alive. That is why we award the International Stefan Heym Prize every three years to outstanding authors and publicists who, like Stefan Heym, get involved in social and political debates in order to fight for moral values," explains Lord Mayor Sven Schulze.
The previous winners were: Joanna Bator (2017), Christoph Hein (2013), Bora Ćosić (2011) and Amos Oz (2008).