Bachmann Prize juror: No wheeling and dealing behind the scenes
Published: Friday, Jun 21st 2024, 14:30
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In view of the recent debate about selection criteria for literary prizes, this year's reading competition for the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize is particularly important from the perspective of the new jury chairman Klaus Kastberger. Because unlike most prizes, his jury will not be debating behind closed doors, but in front of the candidates, in front of an audience and in front of running TV cameras.
"Culture can only legitimize itself if you know that it's not just a sham behind the scenes," Kastberger told the German Press Agency. From Thursday (June 27), 14 authors will be presenting their prose texts during the 48th Days of German-Language Literature in Klagenfurt, Austria, the hometown of the writer Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-1973). On Sunday (June 30), the prize named after her and endowed with 25,000 euros will be awarded.
"The Bachmann Prize is not objective"
In May, two former jurors of the International Literature Prize sparked a debate with their experience report in the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit". In it, they accused that the 2023 selection was not based on literary criteria, but on identity-political aspects such as skin color or origin. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin - one of the prize sponsors - rejected this. The titles had been selected for their literary quality.
Kastberger pointed out that the jury members of the Bachmann Prize also make subjective and emotional judgments despite their professional expertise and the competition rules. "The Bachmann Prize is not objective," he said. It is therefore important "that this is a public debate and that it is negotiated in front of a public audience".
Field of participants with lots of stage experience
Once again this year, each jury member selected two texts for the Bachmann competition. At Kastberger's invitation, the Austrian writer and cabaret artist Ulrike Haidacher will be reading. She developed her debut novel "Die Party" from a stage program.
What is striking this year is that a considerable number of the candidates are coming to Klagenfurt with stage experience. These include the Swiss spoken word artist and musician Jurczok and poetry slam talent Miedya Mahmod from Dortmund.
Swiss author Sarah Elena Müller is not only a novelist, but also part of the pop duo Cruise Ship Misery. Olivia Wenzel, whose "1000 Serpentinen Angst" made it onto the longlist for the German Book Prize in 2020, has stage literature, music and performance in her repertoire.
The Mainz-based author Sophie Stein is also an actress, while Tamara Stajner from Slovenia is both a poet and a classically trained viola player.
But it doesn't always have to be stage art: This year's participants also include the Swiss-born illustrator and author Semi Eschmamp and the German Denis Pfabe, who works three days a week as a forklift driver in a DIY store. Austrian Johanna Sebauer is a writer, but "in real life she works in science communication", according to her portrait for the competition. Other participants are professionally anchored in language and literature, such as the author and German teacher Tijan Sila from Sarajevo, the writer and literary agent Christine Koschmieder, who lives in Germany, or the Polish-Austrian Kaska Bryla, who co-founded the magazine "PS - Politisch Schreiben".
The candidates also include a number of winners of other literary prizes. Henrik Szanto can boast a special honor: In 2019, he was awarded the prize for the "Most Unusual Book Title of the Year" for his book "Es hat 18 Buchstaben und neun davon sind Ypsilons".
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