Kracht, Haas, Bilkau - nominees for the Leipzig Book Prize

Christian Kracht, Wolf Haas, Kristine Bilkau - well-known names dominate this year's list of nominees for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize for Fiction. With this selection, the jury has "hopefully succeeded in curating an inquisitive look at contemporary literature", explained chairwoman Katrin Schumacher. The prize is awarded in three categories - in addition to fiction, translation and non-fiction/essay writing are also included.

Selection from 506 works

Swiss author Christian Kracht is nominated for his novel "Air" - "an intoxicating literary puzzle" according to the jury. Bestselling author Wolf Haas, who was already on last year's Leipzig shortlist, is included this time with his new work "Wackelkontakt". Kristine Bilkau was nominated for "Halbinsel" - a seemingly lightly told book about emotional legacies, according to the jury. The list is completed by Cemile Sahin with "Kommando Ajax" and Esther Dischereit with "Ein Haufen Dollarscheine".

This year, 166 publishers submitted 506 works. The award is traditionally presented on the first day of the Leipzig Book Fair - this time on March 27. The prize is endowed with a total of 60,000 euros - 15,000 euros each go to the winner of the respective category, and the nominees also receive 1,000 euros each.

Non-fiction books on crises and wars

In the non-fiction category, there are several authors on the list who have previously served on the jury for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize themselves. Jens Bisky, head of the jury from 2019 to 2021, is nominated for "Die Entscheidung. Germany 1929 to 1934". Maike Albath, who was a member of the jury from 2016 to 2018, was selected for "Bitter Blue. Naples and its Faces".

The non-fiction list also includes Harald Meller, Kai Michel and Carel van Schaik for "The Evolution of Violence. Why we want peace but wage wars. A History of Humanity", Irina Rastorgueva with "Pop-up Propaganda. Epicrisis of Russian self-poisoning" and the literary scholar Sandra Richter with "Rainer Maria Rilke oder Das offene Leben. A Biography".

Prize also honors translations

The nominated works in the translator category were translated from Polish, English, Italian and Belarusian. The translations by Olaf Kühl ("Kälte"), Lilian Peter ("Angst vorm Fliegen"), Verena von Koskull ("Die Eisenbahnen Mexikos"), Thomas Weiler ("Feuerdörfer. Wehrmachtsverbrechen in Belarus - Zeitzeugen berichten") and Julia Wolf ("Umlaufbahnen") were selected.

The Leipzig Book Fair is being held this year from 27 to 30 March. Last year, 283,000 visitors attended the fair and the associated festival "Leipzig liest".