The 2018 Shortlist

“The weight of the political runs through the texts of this year’s shortlist like a common, explosive thread. As varied as the themes and their negotiation in the nominated books are, the works also point decidedly beyond themselves, confidently seizing the world and its current upheavals. They reveal the gaps between the newsflashes, uncovering the multitude of realities beneath the surfaces. Nothing in history or the present circumstances is inevitable; there are always alternatives. What links the writings are the drastic to poetic insecurities with which they indicate the absolute necessity of literary storytelling.” – The Jury