The 2015 Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt goes to award winner duo Amos Oz and his translator Mirjam Pressler. The award ceremony for the 7th Internationaler Literaturpreis will be held on Wednesday, July 8 as part of the Long Night of the Shortlist (starting at 6 pm) during which all the nominated authors and translators will present the entire spectrum of this year’s six shortlist titles in discussions and readings and focus on current issues of transnational storytelling and translating.
The jury explains its choice of Amos Oz’s novel Judas, in the original German translation by Mirjam Pressler published by Suhrkamp Verlag in 2015 (Hebrew: Habesora al pi Jehuda, Keter, Jerusalem 2014), as follows:
“In his novel, Amos Oz is masterfully able to convey the big issues and conflicts of religious and contemporary history in the Middle East. He interlaces ancient times with the present, contrasting the conflict between Judaism and Christianity with modern Jewish-Palestinian reality. With his three characters – naïve, indecisive Shmuel Asch, the aged cynic Gershom Wald and his widowed daughter-in-law Athaliah Abrabanel – the author confidently reflects his knowledge of political history, thus creating an unconventional piece of world literature. The novel Judas newly poses the question of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity based on the biblical Judas. He links the issue of betrayal with the actual political events during the founding phase of the State of Israel and in the ongoing Middle East conflict. The book’s secret is the way it portrays the moods among the conflicting parties, mirrored in the conversations of the three protagonists. In her German translation, Mirjam Pressler is able to convey a fine nuance of the atmosphere that permeates and carries this intelligent and multi-layered work.”
The jury of 2015 consists of the translator and Islamic scholar Leila Chammaa, the author and former publisher Michael Krüger, the writer and publicist Marko Martin, the sinologist and editor Sabine Peschel, the literary critic and arts journalist Jörg Plath, the literary critic and journalist Iris Radisch, and the writer and essayist Sabine Scholl.
The winning author and translator of the Internationaler Literaturpreis receive prize money of €25,000 and €10,000 respectively. The award has been conferred every year since 2009 by Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Stiftung Elementarteilchen (Hamburg). A list of previous winners can be found here.
The author: Amos Oz, born in Jerusalem in 1939, is among the most internationally renowned Israeli writers. He has received many awards for his work, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1992), the Goethe-Preis of the City of Frankfurt/Main (2005), the Prince of Asturias Award (2007) and the Franz Kafka Prize (2013). Oz holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Łódź.
The translator: Mirjam Pressler, born in Darmstadt in 1940, is a writer and translator from the Hebrew, English and Dutch. Her more than 30 books for children and young people as well as her translations have received many awards including the 2015 Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair for translation and the German Book Prize (2002 and 2004 for her lifetime achievement). Mirjam Pressler was also conferred a Buber Rosenzweig Medal.
On July 8, starting at 6 pm, Amos Oz, Mirjam Pressler and all of the nominated authors and translators will meet at the Long Night of the Shortlist for readings and for the first time in two discussion rounds that will be moderated by the jury members. What literary transactions between authors and translators characterize contemporary storytelling? How can literature expand social, fictional and linguistic horizons? Daša Drndić/Brigitte Döbert/Blanka Stipetić, Amos Oz/Mirjam Pressler, György Buda/Krisztina Tóth will talk in round I about “In the exile of history” moderated by Iris Radisch and Marko Martin (at 6:30 pm). “World textures – in extremis” will be the topic of discussion in round II (at 7:45 pm) for Patrick Chamoiseau/Beate Thill, NoViolet Bulawayo/Miriam Mandelkow, Gilbert Gatore/Katja Meintel, moderated by Sabine Peschel and Sabine Scholl.
Then the award ceremony for the 7th Internationaler Literaturpreis 2015 will take place at 9 pm. Michael Krüger will hold the laudatory speech. The program will close with a reading by the awardees Amos Oz and Mirjam Pressler. Bernd Scherer, director of HKW, will host the literary summer evening on the roof terrace.
In cooperation with Verband deutschsprachiger Übersetzer literarischer und wissenschaftlicher Werke (VdÜ), the Kurt Wolff Stiftung (KWS), the master’s program “Literatur und Medienpraxis,” Universität Duisburg-Essen, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Landesverband Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., Deutsche Welle, Litradio, the journals BuchMarkt, Schweizer Monat, and Literarischer Monat, and the writer and artist network Faust-Kultur.
With the kind support of the Institut Français and the Israeli Embassy in Berlin.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt is funded by the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the German Foreign Ministry.
The jury explains its choice of Amos Oz’s novel Judas, in the original German translation by Mirjam Pressler published by Suhrkamp Verlag in 2015 (Hebrew: Habesora al pi Jehuda, Keter, Jerusalem 2014), as follows:
“In his novel, Amos Oz is masterfully able to convey the big issues and conflicts of religious and contemporary history in the Middle East. He interlaces ancient times with the present, contrasting the conflict between Judaism and Christianity with modern Jewish-Palestinian reality. With his three characters – naïve, indecisive Shmuel Asch, the aged cynic Gershom Wald and his widowed daughter-in-law Athaliah Abrabanel – the author confidently reflects his knowledge of political history, thus creating an unconventional piece of world literature. The novel Judas newly poses the question of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity based on the biblical Judas. He links the issue of betrayal with the actual political events during the founding phase of the State of Israel and in the ongoing Middle East conflict. The book’s secret is the way it portrays the moods among the conflicting parties, mirrored in the conversations of the three protagonists. In her German translation, Mirjam Pressler is able to convey a fine nuance of the atmosphere that permeates and carries this intelligent and multi-layered work.”
The jury of 2015 consists of the translator and Islamic scholar Leila Chammaa, the author and former publisher Michael Krüger, the writer and publicist Marko Martin, the sinologist and editor Sabine Peschel, the literary critic and arts journalist Jörg Plath, the literary critic and journalist Iris Radisch, and the writer and essayist Sabine Scholl.
The winning author and translator of the Internationaler Literaturpreis receive prize money of €25,000 and €10,000 respectively. The award has been conferred every year since 2009 by Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Stiftung Elementarteilchen (Hamburg). A list of previous winners can be found here.
The author: Amos Oz, born in Jerusalem in 1939, is among the most internationally renowned Israeli writers. He has received many awards for his work, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1992), the Goethe-Preis of the City of Frankfurt/Main (2005), the Prince of Asturias Award (2007) and the Franz Kafka Prize (2013). Oz holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Łódź.
The translator: Mirjam Pressler, born in Darmstadt in 1940, is a writer and translator from the Hebrew, English and Dutch. Her more than 30 books for children and young people as well as her translations have received many awards including the 2015 Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair for translation and the German Book Prize (2002 and 2004 for her lifetime achievement). Mirjam Pressler was also conferred a Buber Rosenzweig Medal.
On July 8, starting at 6 pm, Amos Oz, Mirjam Pressler and all of the nominated authors and translators will meet at the Long Night of the Shortlist for readings and for the first time in two discussion rounds that will be moderated by the jury members. What literary transactions between authors and translators characterize contemporary storytelling? How can literature expand social, fictional and linguistic horizons? Daša Drndić/Brigitte Döbert/Blanka Stipetić, Amos Oz/Mirjam Pressler, György Buda/Krisztina Tóth will talk in round I about “In the exile of history” moderated by Iris Radisch and Marko Martin (at 6:30 pm). “World textures – in extremis” will be the topic of discussion in round II (at 7:45 pm) for Patrick Chamoiseau/Beate Thill, NoViolet Bulawayo/Miriam Mandelkow, Gilbert Gatore/Katja Meintel, moderated by Sabine Peschel and Sabine Scholl.
Then the award ceremony for the 7th Internationaler Literaturpreis 2015 will take place at 9 pm. Michael Krüger will hold the laudatory speech. The program will close with a reading by the awardees Amos Oz and Mirjam Pressler. Bernd Scherer, director of HKW, will host the literary summer evening on the roof terrace.
In cooperation with Verband deutschsprachiger Übersetzer literarischer und wissenschaftlicher Werke (VdÜ), the Kurt Wolff Stiftung (KWS), the master’s program “Literatur und Medienpraxis,” Universität Duisburg-Essen, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Landesverband Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., Deutsche Welle, Litradio, the journals BuchMarkt, Schweizer Monat, and Literarischer Monat, and the writer and artist network Faust-Kultur.
With the kind support of the Institut Français and the Israeli Embassy in Berlin.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt is funded by the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the German Foreign Ministry.
