They are wanted again - outstanding German-language new publications in the categories of fiction, non-fiction/essays and translation.

On March 27, 2025, the Leipzig Book Fair Prize will be awarded for the 21st time in the Glass Hall. Until then, there is a lot for the jury to read: 506 works were submitted by 166 publishers by October 1 (2023: 486 titles from 177 publishers). Katrin Schumacher (MDR Kultur) has taken over the chairmanship of the jury for the next three years. Kais Harrabi, Judith von Sternburg, Zita Bereuter and Thomas Hummitzsch are also new to the top-class team. Together with Cornelia Geißler and David Hugendick, they will select the nominees and announce them on March 6.

The Leipzig Book Fair Prize will be awarded for the 21st time this year

"At first glance, a diverse and wonderful number of submissions," says Katrin Schumacher, the new jury chairwoman and editor at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in the literature department. "In the coming weeks, we will have the challenging task of making this amount exactly what it is: namely, not a mountain, not a mass, not a list, but each of these books stands on its own - as a literary voice, as a world. With our tools, i.e. our reading-trained eyes and our understanding, we now have to carry out a kind of excavation of the present. And to see what treasures can be unearthed for all of us in the spring."

In addition to Katrin Schumacher, the experienced literary journalists Kais Harrabi, Judith von Sternburg, Zita Bereuter and Thomas Hummitzsch are joining the existing jury members Cornelia Geißler and David Hugendick. They will announce the nominees on March 6th. On March 27, the first day of the Leipzig Book Fair, at 4 p.m. on the big stage in the Leipzig Glass Hall, the authors and translators who will be the lucky winners of 2025 will be revealed.

The Leipzig Book Fair Prize will be awarded for the 21st time this year and is endowed with a total of 60,000 euros. The Free State of Saxony and the City of Leipzig support the prize. The partner is the Literary Colloquium Berlin.

The Leipzig Book Fair will take place from March 27 to 30, 2025. Advance sales with online discounts start on December 3, 2025. An overview of all ticket prices, whether day tickets or season tickets for the entire fair period, can be found at: https://www.leipziger-buchmesse.de/de/besuchen/tickets-preise/

About the Leipzig Book Fair Prize

The Leipzig Book Fair Prize is awarded by a seven-member jury. The Leipzig Book Fair Prize, worth a total of 60,000 euros, has been honoring outstanding German-language new publications and translations in the categories of fiction, non-fiction/essays and translation since 2005. The Free State of Saxony and the City of Leipzig support the Leipzig Book Fair Prize. The prize's partner is the Literary Colloquium Berlin.

Contact for the press:

Felix Wisotzki
Telephone: +49 341 678-6555
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Contact person for the jury:

Dr. Katrin Schumacher
Chair of the Leipzig Book Fair Prize jury
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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