German Book Prize 2023: 111 publishers submit 172 novels

A total of 172 titles have been entered into the running for the best novel of the year by 111 German-language publishers. Of these publishers, 81 are based in Germany, 10 in Switzerland and 20 in Austria.  

Of the titles submitted, 97 are from the current spring programme and another 70 will be released in the autumn; 5 titles were published last autumn. Each publisher was allowed to submit a maximum of two titles that were or will be published between October 2022 and 19 September 2023, when the shortlist will be announced. In addition, they could each recommend up to five further titles. This year, the list of recommendations included 105 novels. The jury may request titles from this list for inclusion in the selection process.  

During their first joint meeting, the members of the jury appointed Katharina Teutsch (independent critic) as their speaker. The jury also includes: Shila Behjat (journalist and publicist), Heinz Drügh (Goethe University Frankfurt am Main), Melanie Mühl (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Lisa Schumacher (bookshop “Steinmetz’sche Buchhandlung”, Offenbach), Florian Valerius (bookshop “Gegenlicht Buchhandlung”, Trier), Matthias Weichelt (Sinn und Form literary journal).  

The jury selects the novel of the year through a multiple-stage process. On 22 August 2023, 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 19 September 2023. These six authors will only find out which of them has won the German Book Prize at the award ceremony itself, on the evening of 16 October 2023. 

The German Book Prize is awarded by the Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenvereins 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 Frankfurter Buchmesse and the city of Frankfurt am Main are also partners. 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 is available at www.deutscher-buchpreis.de. 

The hashtag for the German Book Prize 2023 is #dbp23 

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