German Book Prize for Leipzig author Hefter
Published: Monday, Oct 14th 2024, 20:10
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It is a novel about digital communication, self-realization and art. And it is a book that resonates and is light-footed at the same time. Leipzig-based author Martina Hefter has now been awarded the German Book Prize for "Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir?
The 59-year-old reacts in disbelief when she is announced as the winner at the award ceremony in Frankfurt's Römer City Hall. She was really overwhelmed and delighted, says Hefter.
"A cleverly choreographed book"
It is a cleverly choreographed book that "exerts an attraction all of its own", according to the jury's statement. "In a fascinating way, the novel combines grueling everyday life with mythological figures and cosmic dimensions, navigating between melancholy and euphoria, reflecting on trust and deception."
Hefter - who is also a poet and performance artist - has succeeded in creating an artistic work that has autobiographical traits and is as contemporary as it is poetic. It tells the story of Juno, an artist in her mid-fifties who lives in Leipzig with her seriously ill husband Jupiter, a writer. Jupiter has multiple sclerosis and cannot leave the apartment without Juno's help.
Juno lives in two worlds. During the day she looks after her husband, at night she dives into the internet. There she chats with so-called love scammers: These are internet scammers who use fake profiles to contact people looking for love and exploit them financially. But instead of falling for it, these very men become a form of freedom for Juno.
Who is exploiting whom here?
Juno uses these chats as a distraction when she can't sleep at night. She hides her true identity and tests how much nonsense she can fantasize about until the scammers stop writing to her. At some point, you wonder who is cheating on whom in this fake world of feelings. After convicting a certain love cheat, Juno begins to chat with this man without any obligation. His name is Benu, he is much younger than her and lives in Nigeria. Despite the distance, a connection develops between the two.
This novel deals with major themes: ageing, global imbalances, longings, friendship and love. Hefter tells of them laconically and tenderly. With "Hey good morning, how are you?", she has succeeded in creating a work that is entertaining to read, but also resonates. Hefter said in her acceptance speech that she did not want to give a political speech. Nevertheless, she had some words of warning. The work on this novel came about with people who accompanied her - "including people who, according to the will of a party whose name I really don't want to mention tonight on this beautiful evening, but according to the will of this party, these people should not necessarily be in the middle of society or not even be here. Because they might have the wrong skin color or have a disability or don't feel they belong to any gender." She knows that you don't have to say that in this room: "But I'll say it anyway, that we are vigilant and that we can also be loud."
Book prize awarded for the 20th time
The German Book Prize is considered one of the most important awards in the industry and was presented for the 20th time on Monday. The seven-member jury reviewed a total of 197 novels from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The prize is awarded in a multi-stage process: First, a list of 20 titles is published (longlist), which is later shortened to six (shortlist). In addition to Hefter, the finalists were Maren Kames ("Hasenprosa"), Clemens Meyer ("Die Projektoren"), Ronya Othmann ("Vierundsiebzig"), Markus Thielemann ("Von Norden rollt ein Donner") and Iris Wolff ("Lichtungen").
The book prize is awarded by the Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels. "For 20 years, the German Book Prize has been providing guidance, awakening a love of reading and reflecting current and emerging themes and trends. Then as now, it promotes enthusiasm for books and creates awareness for the book medium," explained Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, President of the Börsenverein, according to the press release. "The greatest development in the last two decades has been literature itself, the perspectives and voices that have become visible through it."
The prize is endowed with a total of 37,500 euros: The winner receives 25,000 euros, the other shortlisted authors 2,500 euros each. Last year's winner was the Austrian Tonio Schachinger with his novel "Echtzeitalter".
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