Internationaler Literaturpreis—Prize for Contemporary Literatures in Translation 2023: Shortlist Announcement

Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) announces the shortlist for the International Prize for Contemporary Literatures in Translation 2023.

For the fifteenth year, HKW and the Elementarteilchen Foundation awards the Internationaler Literaturpreis—Prize for Contemporary Literatures in Translation. The award honours an outstanding work of contemporary international literature that has been translated into German for the first time. Building on the existing legacy of the prize to expand the understanding of heterogeneous forms of storytelling, this year, first translations of international poetry into German may also be submitted.

Members of the Jury—Ibou Coulibaly Diop, Asal Dardan, Ricardo Domeneck, Juliane Liebert, Ronya Othmann, and Khuê Phạm—present the eight books on this year's shortlist on 16 August 2023 at 18:00 in the Pavilion at HKW’s Semra Ertan Garden. In conversation with Eric Otieno Sumba (HKW), the jury discusses the significance of these works, their potential in the German literary landscape, and the importance of translation today. The event will be held in German. Admission is free.

The 2023 Shortlist

DMZ Kolonie
by Don Mee Choi | translated from English by Uljana Wolf
Spector Books, 2023

Leere Menge
by Verónica Gerber Bicecci | translated from Spanish by Birgit Weilguny
MaroVerlag, 2022

Wie die einarmige Schwester das Haus fegt
by Cherie Jones | translated from English by Karen Gerwig
CulturBooks, 2022

Schauergeschichten
by Péter Nádas | translated from Hungarian by Heinrich Eisterer
Rowohlt Verlag, 2022

Über die See
by Mariette Navarro | translated from French by Sophie Beese
Antje Kunstmann Verlag, 2023

Die geheimste Erinnerung der Menschen
by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr | translated from French by Holger Fock and Sabine Müller
Carl Hanser Verlag, 2022

Mädchen ohne Kleider
by Maria Stepanova | translated from Russian by Olga Radetzkaja
Suhrkamp Verlag, 2022

Was suchst du, Wolf?
by Eva Viežnaviec | Translated from Belarusian by Tina Wünschmann
Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 2023

“The works on this year's shortlist confront the multiplicity of violence in our time with a polyphonic experience. The violence is gross and subtle, physical and verbal, urban and rural, political, historical, interpersonal. It occursin love, in the male gaze, in racist ways of (un)seeing, between the individual and the Masses, and in the memories of the tortured and the conditions of oppression. The throbbing of a historical wound can be rhythmised into a lament, a village elevated to the status of a narrative instance. Tenderness can be inherent in violence as its opposite mediated by the poetics of encounters in humour, affection or mourning. The translations create a linguistic space for expression, a space in which meaning unfolds. In some texts, it is subtle and withdrawn, in others it is a poetic confrontation––especially in cases where the translation is inherent in the expressiveness of the original text itself: between drawings and words for instance, or oral utterances and the written word. These eight books in six languages from six regions of the world play with category and genre, with the canon and frames of reference to create something unlikely: they find moments of levity where one would least expect them.”
—Deniz Utlu for the jury

For the fifteenth time, HKW and the foundation Elementarteilchen award the Internationaler Literaturpreis––Prize for Contemporary Literatures in Translation. The award of €35,000—€20,000 for the author and €15,000 for the translator—honours an outstanding work of contemporary international literature that has been translated into German for the first time. In this way, the prize recognizes both the original work and the work of translation. This dual focus makes the prize unique in Germany. Building on the existing legacy of the prize to expand the understanding of heterogeneous forms of storytelling, this year, first translations of international poetry into German may also be submitted.

Publishers of international literature in German translation were invited to submit up to three titles for consideration. Registration for the Internationaler Literaturpreis 2023 was open until 31 March 2023.

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

The award ceremony will take place on 9 September 2023 at 6 pm at HKW’s Forough Farrokhzad Garden.

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

Further information: hkw.de/literaturpreis
Press photos: hkw.de/pressphotos

Partner

The International Literature Prize is awarded by the House of World Cultures and the Elementarteilchen Foundation (Hamburg).

­Visit Information

Opening Times
Wed.–Mon. 12:00–19:00
Extended opening hours during evening programmes.
Free admission on Mondays and on every first Sunday of the month (Museumssonntag Berlin).

Childcare with programme
HKW offers free childcare for many of its programmes. For further information visit hkw.de

Current information about visiting and accessibility.
 
Weltwirtschaft Restaurant is open daily, from 12:00–00:00 on weekdays and 10:00–00:00 on weekends.­

Contact

Jan Trautmann

Pressesprecher
Lead Communications Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin

T: + 49 (0) 30 397 87 157
presse@hkw.de