The Hermann Kesten Prize (german: link=no, Hermann-Kesten-Preis), formally the Hermann Kesten Medal (german: link=no, Hermann-Kesten-Medaille), is a German

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

presented annually for outstanding efforts in support of persecuted writers, on behalf of

PEN Centre Germany PEN Centre Germany is part of the worldwide association of writers founded in London in 1921, now known as PEN International. One of over 140 autonomous PEN centres around the world, PEN Centre Germany is based in Darmstadt, Hesse. Work PEN Ce ...

according to the principles of the Charter of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. In 1985, the PEN Center of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded the first Hermann Kesten Medal. It is named in honor of the German novelist and dramatist

Hermann Kesten Hermann Kesten (28 January 1900 – 3 May 1996) was a German novelist and dramatist. He was one of the principal literary figures of the New Objectivity movement in 1920s Germany. The literary prize Hermann Kesten Medal has been given in his hon ...

(1900–1996). Until 1993, it was awarded every two years, since 1994 it has been given annually. As of 2000, the

Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts The Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts (german: Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a university and culture ministry in Hesse, Germany. Since January 2019, the minister has been Angela Dorn-Rancke. ...

has endowed the award with a prize of . The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by

affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world.

Prize winners

Source: *1985 Bishop Helmut Frentz *1987 Kathleen von Simson *1989

Angelika Mechtel Angelika may refer to: * Angelika (given name) * Angelika Film Center, theater chain See also * Pieris angelika, butterfly * Angelica (disambiguation) * Angelique (disambiguation) Angelique or Angélique may refer to: * Angélique (given ...

*1991

Christa Bremer Christa may refer to: * Christa (given name), a female given name * Janusz Christa (1934-2008), Polish comics author * ''Swedish Fly Girls'', a 1971 film also known as ''Christa'' * 1015 Christa, an asteroid See also

* Christ (disambiguation) ...

*1993

Johannes Mario Simmel Johannes Mario Simmel (7 April 1924 – 1 January 2009), also known as J. M. Simmel, was an Austrian writer. He was born in Vienna and grew up in Austria and England. He was trained as a chemical engineer and worked in research from 1943 to ...

*1994 Carola Stern *1995

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

*1996 Victor Pfaff *1997 SAID *1998

Hermann Schulz Hermann Schulz (born 14 December 1961) is a German former figure skater who represented East Germany. He is the 1981 national champion and competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Personal life Schulz was born on 14 December 1961 in Dresden, Sax ...

*1999

Alexander Tkatshenko Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

*2000 Nenad Popovic *2001

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

*2002

Sumaya Farhat Naser Sumaya Farhat Naser ( ar, سمية فرحات ناصر‎, born 11 June 1948 in Bir Zeit) is a Palestinian Christian peace activist in the West Bank. She attended ''Talitha Kumi'', a boarding school in Beit Jala which was founded by Lutheran ...

and Gila Svirsky *2003

Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...

*2004

Bunt statt Braun Bunt may refer to: * Bunt (community), an elite social group from Karnataka, India * Bunt (baseball), a batting technique in baseball * Bunt (sail), a part of a ship's sail * Bunt Island, island in Antarctica * The Bunt, nickname of the Bunting ...

*2005

Journaliste en danger Journaliste en danger (JED) is an independent, non partisan non-profit organization (french: association à but non lucratif) founded on November 20, 1998, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on the initiative of a group of Congolese journ ...

*2006

Leonie Ossowski Jolanthe von Brandenstein (15 August 1925 – 4 February 2019), known by her pen name Leonie Ossowski, was a German writer. She also wrote under the name Jo Tiedemann. She wrote novels, including the novel for young adults ''Die große Flatter'' ...

*2007

Hrant Dink Hrant Dink ( hy, Հրանդ Տինք; Western ; 15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of ''Agos'', journalist and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspa ...

*2008

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

*2009

Baltasar Garzón Baltasar Garzón Real (; born 26 October 1955) is a former Spanish judge. Garzón formerly served on Spain's central criminal court, the ''Audiencia Nacional'', and was the examining magistrate of the ''Juzgado Central de Instrucción No. 5'', ...

*2010

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end communist one-par ...

*2011 Egyptian Publisher Mohammed Hashim *2012

Iryna Khalip Iryna Khalip (or Irina Khalip; be, Iрына Халiп, russian: Ирина Халип) (born November 12, 1967) is a Belarusian journalist, reporter and editor in the Minsk bureau of ''Novaya Gazeta'', known for her criticism of Belarusian Pres ...

(Iрына Халiп) Belarusian Journalist *2013

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

*2014

Wolfgang Kaleck Wolfgang Kaleck (born 1960) is a German civil rights attorney. He is the founder as well as the general secretary for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. He resides in Berlin, Germany. After studying law at the University o ...

*2015 Gefangenes Wort e.V. and Madjid Mohit *2016 Translate for Justice *2017 Thomas B. Schumann *2018

Gioconda Belli Gioconda Belli (born December 9, 1948 in Managua, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan author, novelist and poet. Early life Gioconda Belli grew up in a wealthy family in Managua. Her father is Humberto Belli Zapata and her brother is Humbe ...

*2019 Philippe Lançon *2020 Günther Wallraff *2021 Irena Brežná *2022

Meena Kandasamy Ilavenil Meena Kandasamy (born 1984) is an Indian poet, fiction writer, translator and activist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Meena published two collections of poetry, ''Touch'' (2006) and ''Ms. Militancy'' (2010). From 2001-2002, she edi ...

Manasi Gopalakrishnan.
Indian author Meena Kandasamy to receive PEN Germany prize
. ''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

''. 19 September 2022.

References

External links

Hermann Kesten webpageGerman P.E.N. Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kesten, Hermann German PEN Center awards Awards established in 1985 1985 establishments in Germany Literary awards honouring human rights