German Book Prize 2022: 124 publishers submit 202 novels

The German Book Prize 2022 is setting new records. For the third year in a row, the number of submissions has reached an all-time high: 124 German-language publishers entered a total of 202 titles into the running for the best novel of the year. That’s five titles more than in the record-breaking year 2021. Of these publishers, 83 are based in Germany, 22 in Switzerland, 19 in Austria and one in Luxembourg. 

Of the titles submitted, 121 are from the current spring programme and another 69 will be released in the autumn; 12 titles were published last autumn. Each publisher was allowed to submit a maximum of two titles that were or will be published between October 2021 and 20 September 2022, when the shortlist will be announced. In addition, they could each recommend up to five further titles. This year, the list of recommendations included 124 novels – 12 more than the previous year. The jurors may request titles from this list for inclusion in the selection process.  

During their first joint meeting, the members of the jury appointed Miriam Zeh (Deutschlandfunk Kultur) as their speaker. The jury also includes: Erich Klein (independent critic, Vienna), Frank Menden (“stories! Die Buchhandlung” bookstore, Hamburg), Uli Ormanns (“Agnes Buchhandlung” bookstore, Cologne), Isabelle Vonlanthen (Literaturhaus Zürich), Selma Wels (curator and moderator, Frankfurt) and Jan Wiele (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).  

The jury selects the novel of the year through a multiple-stage process. On 23 August 2022, it will announce the 20 nominated titles. From this longlist, the jurors will then select six titles for the shortlist, which will be released on 20 September 2022. The six authors will only find out who among them has won the German Book Prize on 17 October 2022, the evening of the award ceremony. 

The German Book Prize is awarded by the Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association). The main sponsor of the German Book Prize is the Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation), and the city of Frankfurt am Main is also a partner. The television network Deutsche Welle supports the German Book Prize in its media activities both at home and abroad. 

More information about the German Book Prize 2022 is available at www.deutscher-buchpreis.de. 

The hashtag for the German Book Prize 2022 is #dbp22. 

A press photo of the jury members is available for download here: https://www.boersenverein.de/presse/pressefotos/.