Franz-Hessel-Preis or Franz Hessel Prize for Contemporary Literature is a literary prize of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and Germany for French and German authors. The prize was created as a tribute to the writer and translator
Franz Hessel.
This Franco-German prize is conceived and organized by the Villa Gillet in Lyon and the Genshagen Foundation in the Land of Brandenburg (next to Berlin). The award is supported by the German Federal Government for Culture and Media and the
French Ministry of Culture and Communication.
History
The award was presented for the first time on 10 December 2010 in
Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
, Germany. It was presented by German Culture Minister Bernd Neumann and French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand as sponsors of the Franco-German Council of Ministers.
Each year, two authors, one German, the other French, are awarded. The award-winning author must have recently published a work, ideally in the year the prize is given. The winners are selected by an independent French-German jury.
This literary prize is endowed with €10,000 per author. A translation in German for the French author and in French for the German author is planned in collaboration with the publishing houses concerned.
Winners
* 2010:
Kathrin Röggla
Kathrin Röggla (born 1971) is an Austrian writer, essayist and playwright. She was born in Salzburg and lives in Berlin since 1992 but moved to Cologne in 2020. She has written numerous prose works, including essays, as well as dramas and radio ...
for ''Die Alarmbereiten'' (S. Fischer) and
Maylis de Kerangal
Maylis de Kerangal (born 16 June 1967) is a French author. Her novels deeply explore people in their work lives. She has won many awards for her work (including the Prix Médicis, the Premio Gregor von Rezzori, the Grand prix RTL-Lire, and the ...
for ''Birth of a Bridge''
'Naissance d'un pont''(Verticales).
* 2011: Thomas Melle for ''Sickster'' (Rowohlt-Berlin) and
Céline Minard for ''So long, Luise'' (Denoël).
* 2012: Andreas Maier for ''Das Haus'' (
Suhrkamp Verlag
Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and is generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag.
In January 2010, ...
) and
Éric Vuillard for ''La bataille d'Occident'' (
Actes Sud
Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members.
...
).
* 2013:
Jonas Lüscher for ''Frühling der Barbaren'' (C.H.Beck) and Frédéric Ciriez for ''Mélo'' (Verticales).
* 2014:
Esther Kinsky for ''Am Fluß'' (Matthes & Seitz Berlin) and
Christine Montalbetti
Christine Montalbetti is a French novelist, playwright and professor of literature at the University of Paris. In her writing, Montalbetti practices what Warren Motte calls "intrusive narration," or a narrative style that engages the reader dire ...
for ''Nothing but the Waves and Wind''
'Plus rien que les vagues et le vent''(P.O.L).
* 2016:
Ulrich Peltzer for ''Das bessere Leben'' (
S. Fischer Verlag) and
Michael Ferrier for ''Mémoires d'outre-mer'' (Gallimard).
* 2017:
Christine Wunnicke for ''Der Fuchs und Dr. Shimamura'' (
Berenberg Verlag) and
Philippe Forest for ''Crue'' (Gallimard)
* 2018:
Fatma Aydemir for ''Ellbogen'' (
Hanser Verlag) and
Michel Jullien for ''Denise au Ventoux'' (Verdier)
* 2019:
Susanne Röckel for ''Der Vogelgott'' (Jung und Jung Verlag, 2018) and
Anne-Marie Garat für ''Le Grand Nord-Ouest'' (Éditions Actes Sud, 2018)
* 2020:
Lola Randl for ''Der Große Garten'' (Matthes & Seitz Berlin) and
Emmanuelle Pireyre for ''Chimère'' (Éditions de l'Olivier)
* 2021:
Dorothee Elmiger for ''Aus der Zuckerfabrik'' (Hanser) and
Camille de Toledo for ''Thésée, sa vie nouvelle'' (Verdier)
*2022:
Maryline Desbiolles for ''Charbons ardents'' (Éd. Seuil) and
Fridolin Schley for ''Die Verteidigung'' (Hanser Berlin)
References
External links
{{official, https://www.stiftung-genshagen.de/projekte/franz-hessel-preis/
German literary awards
French literary awards
Awards established in 2010