Franz-Hessel-Preis or Franz Hessel Prize for Contemporary Literature is a literary prize of France 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 The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

History

The award was presented for the first time on 10 December 2010 in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

, 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. She has written numerous prose works, including essays, dramas and radio plays. She has won a long range of award ...

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 several awards for her work, and her novels have been published in several languages. Two have been adapted as films. L ...

for ''Birth of a Bridge'' 'Naissance d'un pont''(Verticales). * 2011: Thomas Melle for ''Sickster'' (Rowohlt-Berlin) and

Céline Minard Céline Minard (born 1969 in Rouen) is a French writer. Biography After studying philosophy, she devoted herself to the work of writing, sometimes collaborating with visual artists. Her work would mark "the return of pure and hard fiction in th ...

for ''So long, Luise'' (Denoël). * 2012: Andreas Maier for ''Das Haus'' (Suhrkamp Verlag) and

Éric Vuillard Éric Vuillard (4 May 1968, Lyon) is a French writer and film director. He has made two films, ''L'homme qui marche'' and ''Mateo Falcone'', the latter based on a story by Prosper Merimee. He is the author of ''Conquistadors'' (2009) which won th ...

for ''La bataille d'Occident'' (Actes Sud). * 2013:

Jonas Lüscher Jonas Lüscher (born 22 October 1976 in Schlieren) is a Swiss-German writer and essayist. Early life Lüscher grew up in Bern where he later trained between 1994 and 1998 at the Muristalden Evangelical Teacher Training School (''Evangelische Le ...

for ''Frühling der Barbaren'' (C.H.Beck) and Frédéric Ciriez for ''Mélo'' (Verticales). * 2014:

Esther Kinsky Esther Kinsky (born 1956 in Engelskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a German literary translator and the author of novels and poetry. Life and works Esther Kinsky grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia and read Slavonic studies at Bonn. Sh ...

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 direc ...

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 Michaël Ferrier (born 14 August 1967) is a French writer, novelist and essayist, living in Tokyo. Biography Ferrier was born in Strasbourg. He comes from a French family and also from Mauritian Creole people and Réunion Creole people, with In ...

for ''Mémoires d'outre-mer'' (Gallimard). * 2017:

Christine Wunnicke Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

for ''Der Fuchs und Dr. Shimamura'' (Berenberg Verlag) and

Philippe Forest Philippe Forest (born 18 June 1962) is a French author and professor of literature. He has been awarded the First Novel Prix Femina (1997) and the Prix Décembre (2004), and his works have been translated into English, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, K ...

for ''Crue'' (Gallimard) * 2018:

Fatma Aydemir Fatma Aydemir (born 1986) is a German author and journalist based in Berlin. She is best known for her novel ''Ellbogen'' (Elbow), which won both the 2018 Franz-Hessel-Preis, Franz Hessel Prize and the Klaus-Michael Kühne, Klaus Michael Kühne ...

for ''Ellbogen'' (Hanser Verlag) and

Michel Jullien Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

for ''Denise au Ventoux'' (Verdier) * 2019:

Susanne Röckel Susanne may refer to: *Susanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) *, later USS ''SP-411'', a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 to 1919 *, the proposed name and designation for a vess ...

for ''Der Vogelgott'' (Jung und Jung Verlag, 2018) and

Anne-Marie Garat Anne-Marie Garat (9 October 1946 – 26 July 2022) was a French novelist. She won the Prix Femina for her novel ''Aden'' in 1992 and the for her novel ''Les mal famées''. Studying literature in Bordeaux, she then obtained a DEA in cinema at ...

für ''Le Grand Nord-Ouest'' (Éditions Actes Sud, 2018) * 2020:

Lola Randl Lola Randl (born 1980 in Munich) is a German film director and screenwriter. Life and work In 2001 Lola Randl started to study film direction at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. She graduated in 2006 with the short film ''Wohlfühlwochenende' ...

for ''Der Große Garten'' (Matthes & Seitz Berlin) and

Emmanuelle Pireyre Emmanuelle Pireyre is a French writer. She was born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1969. She was first published in 1995. She is best known for her 2012 book ''Féerie générale'' which won the Prix Médicis. She now lives in Lyon Lyon,, ; Occita ...

for ''Chimère'' (Éditions de l'Olivier) * 2021: Dorothee Elmiger for ''Aus der Zuckerfabrik'' (Hanser) and

Camille de Toledo Camille de Toledo (born 25 June 1976, in Lyon, France) is a French writer and a visual artist. Biography Camille de Toledo studied history and political science at Sciences Po as well as law and literature at the Paris West University Nanterre ...

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