International Stefan Heym Prize 2023: The prizewinner is Jenny Erpenbeck
This year's International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz goes to the writer Jenny Erpenbeck.
Mayor Sven Schulze, Dr Ulrike Uhlig, Chair of the Board of the International Stefan Heym Society, and Prof. Dr Bernadette Malinowski, Chair of Modern German and Comparative Literature at Chemnitz University of Technology, announced the winner today.
Among other things, the Board of Trustees' statement said: "At the centre of her work is the critical reflection of contemporary society in its diverse historical and cultural contexts. In doing so, she does not instrumentalise literature as a moral cudgel, but understands it - in the spirit of Stefan Heym - as a medium that 'gives the reader food for thought' in the best sense of the word."
Born in East Berlin, writer Jenny Erpenbeck pursued a career as a writer alongside her career as a theatre director in Germany and Austria.
Her debut novel "Geschichte vom alten Kind" was published in 1999. In addition to further novels such as "Heimsuchung" (2008), "Aller Tage Abend" (2012), "Gehen, ging, gegangen" (2015) and "Kairos" (2021), Jenny Erpenbeck has published essays and plays, some of which she has directed herself. Her works have been translated into more than 30 languages. She has been honoured for her literary work in particular with a number of national and international awards, most recently the Uwe Johnson Prize.
The International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz 2023 will be awarded at a ceremony on Saturday, 1 April 2023.
International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz
The International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz is awarded in memory of the life, work and achievements of Stefan Heym, son and honorary citizen of the City of Chemnitz. The International Stefan Heym Prize is intended to honour contemporary and courageous personalities who, like Stefan Heym, have made outstanding and lasting achievements as writers and publicists. The prize is endowed with 20,000 euros.
The International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz was first awarded to Amos Oz in 2008. Bora Ćosić received the award in 2011. On the occasion of Stefan Heym's 100th birthday, the prize was awarded to Christoph Hein in 2013. In 2017, the Polish writer and journalist Joanna Bator received the prize. The Croatian writer and journalist Slavenka Drakulić and the Swedish author and journalist Richard Swartz are the winners of the International Stefan Heym Prize 2020.
The Board of Trustees, which decides on the awarding of the prize, includes the Lord Mayor of the City of Chemnitz, the President of the P.E.N. Centre Germany, the President of the Goethe-Institut, the Director of C. Bertelsmann Verlag, the Chairman of the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM) - German Section, the Chairwoman of the International Stefan Heym Society e. V., two councillors from the City of Chemnitz Cultural Committee and Prof Dr Bernadette Malinowski, holder of the Chair of Modern German and Comparative Literature at Chemnitz University of Technology.