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The six finalists for the German Book Prize 2007 have now been named. We present a list of the shortlisted titles below, with links to English translations of the first pages.
"When seven judges have to choose the six most important, most exciting and worthwhile out of twenty good books, there cannot be unanimity over every title", says the spokeswoman for the judges, Felicitas von Lovenberg. "At the end of a meeting full of pleading, declarations of love and passionate attacks, the judges finally agreed on six strong finalists who show the unusual variety of this book season." Over the past five months, the judges have read a total of 117 titles that are scheduled for publication between 1 October 2006 and 12 September 2007.
The novels shortlisted (in alphabetical order):
Lady Midday (Die Mittagsfrau)
by Julia Franck
S. Fischer Verlag
September 2007
About the book
English excerpt
Isn't that me? (Das bin doch ich)
by Thomas Glavinic
Hanser
August 2007
About the book
English excerpt
Occident (Abendland)
by Michael Köhlmeier
Hanser Verlag
August 2007
About the book
English excerpt
Angry Sheep (Böse Schafe)
by Katja Lange-Müller
Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch
August 2007
About the book
English excerpt
The Moon and the Maiden (Der Mond und das Mädchen)
by Martin Mosebach
Hanser Verlag
August 2007
About the book
English excerpt
Wallner begins to fly (Wallner beginnt zu fliegen)
by Thomas von Steinaecker
Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt
February 2007
About the book
English excerpt
The judges for the German Book Prize 2007 are: Christian Döring (editor and critic), Karl-Markus Gauss (author and editor of "Literatur & Kritik" magazine), Felicitas von Lovenberg (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Ijoma Mangold (Süddeutsche Zeitung), Rudolf Müller (Müller & Böhm, Literaturhandlung im Heine Haus), Matthias Schreiber (Der Spiegel) and Hajo Steinert (Deutschlandfunk).
The prize award will be held in the immediate run-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair on 8 October 2007 in the Kaisersaal at Frankfurt's Römer. The winner will receive 25,000 euros in prize money.
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This year's prestigious Büchner Prize went to Austrian writer Josef Winkler. He talks to Paul Jandl about dung heaps, patriarchs, the fear of speechlessness and the elegance of John Paul II's coffin. Photo © Jerry Bauer / SV
The six finalists for the German Book Prize 2008, an annual award for the best German language novel, have now been announced. Signandsight.com presents English excerpts of the shortlisted titles for the first time.
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