May 24, 2022

Internationaler Literaturpreis 2022: Announcing the Shortlist

Internationaler Literaturpreis 2022
Prize for Contemporary Literature in Translation

For the fourteenth time, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) and Stiftung Elementarteilchen will award the Internationaler Literaturpreis for contemporary literature in translation to an author and translator duo.

The 2022 Shortlist

Liebe im neuen Jahrtausend
by Can Xue
translated from Chinese by Karin Betz
Matthes & Seitz, 2021

Meine Eltern / Alles nicht dein Eigen
by Aleksandar Hemon
translated from English by Henning Ahrens
Claassen, 2021

Der Fluch des Hechts
by Juhani Karila
translated from Finnish by Maximilian Murmann
homunculus, 2022

Leichte Sprache
by Cristina Morales
translated from Spanish by Friederike von Criegern
Matthes & Seitz, 2022

Eine Nebensache
by Adania Shibli
translated from Arabic by Günther Orth
Berenberg Verlag, 2022

Omertà. Buch des Schweigens
by Andrea Tompa
translated from Hungarian by Terézia Mora
Suhrkamp, 2022

The jury’s statement on the 2022 shortlist

“The works on this year’s shortlist show what literature is capable of when it directly addresses the reader’s consciousness. They reveal language itself. They illuminate our understanding of temporality and reality by transcending it, captivating us with their accuracy in looking, in describing, in telling. The powerful translations potentiate their diversity of voices: They simultaneously grasp and transcend the reader’s relationship to the regions they describe. These are works that do not shy away from taking on the conflicts of our time and they show us the power of nature in the struggle against destructive humanity.”

This year, the jury members are Robin Detje, Heike Geißler, Michael Götting, Dominique Haensell, Verena Lueken, Annika Reich and Elisabeth Ruge.

For the fourteenth time, the Internationaler Literaturpreis for contemporary literature in its first German translation will be awarded by Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Stiftung Elementarteilchen. Endowed with €20,000 for the author and €15,000 for the translator, the award not only honors outstanding contemporary voices in international narrative literature, but in particular the alliance between author and translator. For their shortlist nomination, all other authors and translators will receive €1000 each.

In a video on the shortlist, actors Zeynep Bozbay, Jonas Grundner-Culemann, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Anne Kulbatzki, Abak Safaei-Rad and Falilou Seck present the nominated books with Haus der Kulturen der Welt as their reading stage.

A shortlist reader in newspaper format is now available free of charge in many bookstores in German-speaking countries.

The announcement of the award-winning duo will take place in an award presentation on June 22, 2022 on the roof terrace of Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

More information at hkw.de/literatureaward
Press photos at hkw.de/pressphotos

Please adhere to the release date of May 24, 2022, 8:00 pm CET.

We will be happy to answer any questions you may have and to arrange your interview and review requests.

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Partners

The Internationaler Literaturpreis is awarded by Haus der Kulturen der Welt with Stiftung Elementarteilchen (Hamburg).

Haus der Kulturen der Welt is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and by the Federal Foreign Office.

Press Contact

Jan Trautmann
Head of Press and PR

Haus der Kulturen der Welt
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin
T + 49 (0) 30 39787-192

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