The German literary prize announcements have been coming fast and furious, but here's the big one, at least until the German Book Prize in the fall: they've announced who will be getting this year's Georg-Büchner-Preis, the most prestigious of the German author-prizes (pretty much all the heaviest hitters have won this one along the way -- though a few have almost fallen through the cracks (Peter Weiss only got it in 1982, the year of his death, and they did miss Arno Schmidt; on the other hand, they already recognized Thomas Bernhard back in 1970, Peter Handke in 1973, and Durs Grünbein in 1995)).
They haven't announced it yet at the official site, last I checked (am I the only one who finds it ridiculous how often I have to write those words ?), but it's octogenarian Jürgen Becker who will be picking up the €50,000 prize this fall (25 October).
Jürgen Becker ? Yeah, not really well-known in the English-speaking world -- but a longtime Suhrkamp author (see their list of his publications). Still, definitely a selection that comes as somewhat of a surprise.
They haven't announced it yet at the official site, last I checked (am I the only one who finds it ridiculous how often I have to write those words ?), but it's octogenarian Jürgen Becker who will be picking up the €50,000 prize this fall (25 October).
Jürgen Becker ? Yeah, not really well-known in the English-speaking world -- but a longtime Suhrkamp author (see their list of his publications). Still, definitely a selection that comes as somewhat of a surprise.