Major Berlin Publishing Prize goes to Voland & Quist

The Grand Berlin Publishing Prize, endowed with 26,000 euros, goes to the publishing house Voland & Quist. "The publishing house dares to experiment, discovers new literary worlds and trusts that books do not have to fit into the established patterns of publishing and presentation in order to work," said jury member Philipp Böhm in his laudatory speech. The publishing house was founded in Dresden in 2004.

Two Berlin publishing prizes, each endowed with 15,000 euros, went to Reprodukt and Transit Verlag. The awards were presented during a festive ceremony at the Deutsches Theater Berlin.

"Using independence to make new points of view public"

"Diversity of opinion is the lifeblood of democracy," said Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo (CDU). "It needs structures in which perspectives can develop and in which free discourse is possible. People who use their independence creatively and decisively to make new perspectives public are committed to this."

The Berlin Publishing Prize is intended to recognize the great achievements of smaller, independent publishers, "who often publish books at a high economic risk and are passionately committed to literature," said Franziska Giffey (SPD), Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises.

The Berlin Publishing Prize has been awarded by the Senate Department for Culture in cooperation with the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Landesverband Berlin-Brandenburg to publishers based in Berlin since 2018. Last year, Edition Tiamat, Interkontinental Verlag and Lukas Verlag were awarded the prize.