Shortlist for the German Book Prize: All winners?

The shortlist for the German Book Prize has been published, and what unites all the nominated novels is that everyone can agree on them. It almost seems as if the selection couldn't have been any different when you bring together the superlatives that were given to the six books in various media by the basketful. Or have the standards shifted? What does it mean when the FAZ certifies that the (rightly) nominated “Loops” by Elias Hirschl (Zsonay) “reaches miles beyond the usual in the literary business”?

Well, the expressions of praise: Shida Bazyar's homeland exploration "The Gaps" (Kiepenheuer & Witsch) is the "most remarkable German novel of this autumn of books" (FAZ), and the Frankfurter Rundschau suggests that it should be read in school straight away. Franziska Gänsler’s “Orca” (No & But) was also considered good. Her third novel about a friendship in the climate activist milieu is her best to date, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Words of praise also for Valeria Gordeev: In “The cicada escapes from its shiny gold shell” (S. Fischer) there are passages of “world literary status,” says Die Zeit, and the novel, which takes place between Moscow, Berlin and Kyiv, is “suddenly addictive.” Only Deutschlandfunk has something to criticize here and shows a slight tendency towards slapstick.

Dana Vowinckel's nomination comes as no surprise. In the case of her second novel, too, the enthusiastic reviews ("sensational", time) piled up, and the crowds gathered in the hundreds at the sold-out book premiere at the Literary Colloquium on Berlin's Wannsee. “Anton and Alma” (Suhrkamp) tells the aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7th using a love story of a young Berlin couple, one Jewish, one not, which – perhaps depending on your proximity to or acquaintance with the milieu outlined – can be described either as “closely observed” or “trivial”.

What else is there to say? Facts and figures on the subject of representation: The slight over-representation of East German history and its after-effects on the longlist no longer exists; only Peggy Mädler still negotiates everyday life in the GDR in “Self-regulation of the Heart” (Galiani).

The dominance of female voices is also remarkable: five female authors face one author. At this point there is only one thing left: Short words of regret in view of the departure of Yade Yasemin Önder's entertaining and eloquent novel “Anti Müller” (Park x Ullstein).

The shortlist and its six titles were decided upon by the seven-person jury consisting of speaker Cornelia Geißler (Berliner Zeitung), Theresa Donner (Heiter bis cloudy bookstore, Halle an der Saale), Jan Ehlert (NDR), Maha El Hissy (literary scholar), Emily Grunert (Literaturbüro NRW), Stefanie Kreuzer (University of Kassel) and Adam Soboczynski (Die Zeit). Who will receive the award and the prize money of 25,000 euros will be announced at the award ceremony on October 5th: at the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Kaisersaal of the Frankfurter Römer.