Book Prize 2008
August 21, 2008
Among the nominees presented on Wednesday, Aug. 20, from more than 161 German-language novels were well-known writers Uwe Timm, Marcel Beyer and Peter Handke. 2008 wasn't the first appearance on the longlist for several other nominees, including Ingo Schulze, Judith Kuckart and Feridun Zaimoglu.
Judges had a rich list of titles to choose from, director of the Literaturhaus Hamburg and jury spokesperson Rainer Moritz said when announcing the list.
"Overall, it seems to me as if contemporary literature is opening up more and showing a more strong-willed intent of its own again," he said.
Winner announcement in October
During the last five months, the seven judges from around the country read books either published or scheduled for publication between Oct. 1, 2007 and Sept. 17, 2008. A shortlist of six titles from the 20 presented Wednesday will be announced Sept. 17.
A final winner, to be awarded a 25,000 euro ($37,500) prize, will be crowned on Oct. 13, at the beginning of the 2008 Frankfurt Book Fair.