Presentation of the International Stefan Heym Prize to Christoph Hein
INVITATION for representatives of the media to the ceremony on Wednesday, 10 April, 19:00, Chemnitz Theatre, Zieschestraße 28, 09111 Chemnitz.
On 10 April, the city of Chemnitz will award the International Stefan Heym Prize for the third time in honour of Stefan Heym, the son and honorary citizen of the city. The prizewinner is the writer Christoph Hein (PM 550/2012). He will receive the 40,000 euro prize in person in Chemnitz. We cordially invite representatives of the media to attend the ceremony (accreditation can be found at the end of this press release).
The Stefan Heym Prize will be awarded at a ceremony at Chemnitz Theatre. The laudator will be the award-winning writer Ingo Schulze. At the ceremony, the string quartet of Chemnitz Opera will fulfil Stefan Heym's musical preference and play pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven. During the event, Hein will sign the Golden Book of the City of Chemnitz.
Before the award ceremony, there will be a press conference with the prizewinner Christoph Hein, the laudator Ingo Schulze, Stefan Heym's widow Inge Heym as well as Mayor Barbara Ludwig and Ulrike Uhlig, Chairwoman of the Board of the International Stefan Heym Society. Representatives of the media are invited to the "Schocken" on 10 April at 14:15. This will be followed at 15:00 by the naming ceremony of the forecourt of the future State Archaeological Museum as Stefan-Heym-Platz.
In addition, the Heym Conference organised by the International Stefan Heym Society will take place on 11 and 12 April. In collaboration with the Chair of Modern German and Comparative Literature at Chemnitz University of Technology, the theme of the conference is "The Witness of the Century - Historiography and Historical Concepts in the Works of Stefan Heym", under the patronage of theologian and civil rights activist Friedrich Schorlemmer. The programme for Heym's birthday also includes readings, productions and excursions.
About the award winner: Christoph Hein, born on 8 April 1944, is one of the most distinguished authors of our time. His literary work includes novels, essays, short stories, theatre plays, poetry and children's books. He became internationally recognised in 1982 with the novella "Der fremde Freund" (published in Germany in 1983 under the title "Drachenblut"). His most famous novels include "Der Tangospieler" (1988) and "Willenbrock" (2000), which was made into a film by Andreas Dresen. His most recent work is "Weiskerns Nachlass" (2011). In 1998, Christoph Hein was elected the first president of the reunited P.E.N. Centre. He also served as co-editor of "Freitag" until 2006.
Christoph Hein was born in the Silesian village of Heizendorf and grew up in Bad Düben. In 1960, he moved to West Berlin in order to be able to graduate from high school as a pastor's son. Before studying logic and philosophy in Leipzig and Berlin (1967 to 1970), Hein earned his living as an assembly worker, bookseller and assistant director to Benno Besson at the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne. After completing his studies, he returned to the Volksbühne as a dramaturge, where he worked alongside Heiner Müller as resident director from 1973. Christoph Hein has been a freelance writer since 1979. As a member of the P.E.N. Centre of the GDR, he also intervened critically in debates, protesting, for example, at the X. Writers' Congress in 1987 against censorship and two years later against the arrest of Václav Havel. On 4 November 1989, Christoph Hein was one of the speakers at the demonstration of cultural workers on Berlin's Alexanderplatz.
Christoph Hein has received numerous awards, most recently the Uwe Johnson Prize (2012), the Eichendorff Literature Prize (2010) and the Walter Hasenclever Literature Prize (2008). He has also been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit (1994).
Information on the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz, the Stefan Heym Society and the namesake Stefan Heym (1913-2001) can be found online at www.chemnitz.de > The City of Chemnitz > City Portrait > Honours & Prizes and Honorary Citizens.
Note for editorial offices: Please notify the City of Chemnitz Press Office by 28 March if you wish to attend the ceremony.