The International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz was awarded today, Saturday 18 April, to the Ukrainian writer, essayist and translator Yuri Andrukhovych. The prizewinner accepted the award in person from Lord Mayor Sven Schulze at the event location die fabrik Chemnitz.
With this prize, the city of Chemnitz honours authors and publicists who have made an outstanding contribution to public discourse in the spirit of Stefan Heym with their work and have made a lasting impact that is of importance to society as a whole. The International Stefan Heym Prize is awarded every three years and, with prize money of 20,000 euros, is a highly endowed literary prize in Germany.
Lord Mayor Sven Schulze: "With Yuri Andrukhovych, we are not only honouring a great European author. We are honouring a writer who - just like Stefan Heym - is not content with the role of a mere observer. He is a voice of his country, a voice of Europe. Like Heym, Andrukhovych sees literature as social intervention. And interference is the opposite of indifference."
The prizewinner Yuri Andrukhovych: "I perceive this award, which I have received today, as a strong signal of solidarity. This award is a clear testimony that you, Europeans, are with us, with Ukraine. I sincerely thank you that even in the fifth year of crazy aggression you have not become indifferent. And not tired.
I believe that you had an excellent teacher of interference and cheerfulness, his name was Stefan Heym. Thank you, Stefan Heym, for changing so much through your interventions. And that you loved Heinrich Heine literally until the day you died."
Laudator Katharina Raabe: "Das letzte Territorium, Mein Europa, Zwölf Ringe - these books were a sensation: met with euphoric reviews, they put not only the author but also his country in the spotlight. Yuri Andrukhovych has liberated Ukrainian literature, enriched it with new, unrivalled forms, reinforced the saving irony, the Central European melancholy. He has given voice to things that we in the rest of Europe didn't even know existed. And he has opened our eyes to what is at stake in Ukraine. His novels and essays, translated by Sabine Stöhr in a captivating and highly comical way, are world literature."
Yuri Andrukhovych also signed the Golden Book of the City of Chemnitz during the award ceremony.
With this award, the Board of Trustees for the International Stefan Heym Prize honours the work and influence of the author as one of the most important literary and intellectual voices in Ukraine. Yuri Andrukhovych, born in 1960, became known through the performance group Bu-Ba-Bu (Burlesk-Balagan-Buffonada), founded in 1985. He has published volumes of poetry, narrative prose, journalistic essays and novels.
Andrukhovych's literary activism is motivated by the special situation in his home country. His first novel to be translated into German, "Dvanadcjat' obrutschiv" (Engl: "Twelve Rings", 2007, Suhrkamp Verlag), reflects the chaos of the post-socialist transition period and the birth of a new state. In the book he edited, "Euromaidan: Was in der Ukraine auf dem Spiel steht" (2014, Suhrkamp Verlag), authors and academics examine the moment of the revolution from their own individual perspectives. In 2023, Suhrkamp Verlag also published another collection of essays entitled "The Price of Our Freedom". It makes it clear that Andrukhovych, with his keen eye for political developments and Ukrainian society, was already warning of Russia's claims and aspirations long before 2022.
Reading and discussion with Yuri Andrukhovych
"Only freedom is unquestionable" - this is the motto under which the prizewinner will read from his works on Sunday, 19 April, and enter into conversation with moderator Prof. Bernadette Malinowski. The reading will take place in the Hartmannfabrik, Fabrikstraße 11, and begins at 3 pm. Admission is free of charge. Registration is not required.
The 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, the son and honorary citizen of the city. 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 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 International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz. The Croatian writer and journalist Slavenka Drakulić and the Swedish author and journalist Richard Swartz were the prizewinners in 2020. In 2023, the German writer Jenny Erpenbeck received the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz.
The International Stefan Heym Prizes of the City of Chemnitz
At the same time as awarding the International Stefan Heym Prize, the City of Chemnitz is also awarding the International Stefan Heym Sponsorship Prizes with a total value of 20,000 euros. Applications can be submitted to the City of Chemnitz until 15 September 2026. The awards are endowed with a total of 20,000 euros.
The International Stefan Heym Sponsorship Prizes are awarded in particular to projects and initiatives in the fields of art, culture, science and research or the preservation of Stefan Heym's estate. Own journalistic or artistic works can also be supported, provided they deal critically, courageously and productively with questions of our present (also in their historical context and their possible future form) in the spirit of Stefan Heym.
Pupils, individuals and school classes who are interested in history, literature or politics in the spirit of Stefan Heym and would like to engage with social issues are invited to submit their own projects. Work created in class or as a joint class project can also be considered. The form of the projects is open.
Further information is available at
www.chemnitz.de/begleitprogramm_heympreis
www.chemnitz.de/heym_foerderpreise