One of the most prestigious promotional prizes for German-language debut authors
The Jürgen Ponto Foundation for the Promotion of Young Artists has been awarding an annual promotional prize since 1978 to young German-language authors who are working on their first book manuscript and show particular literary talent. It is endowed with 15,000 euros. This year the prize goes to the playwright, essayist and dramaturge Sasha Marianna Salzmann.
You can be there when the author reads from her award-winning debut novel "Außer sich" (Suhrkamp) following the award ceremony.
The laudatory speech will be given by the Ponto Foundation's specialist curator for literature Christof Hamann: "Salzmann literally tells 'Außer sich', always on the edge of her body, her language, her feelings and perceptions. Her debut novel is a tightrope walk between cultural and gender identities that is as daring as it is successful. At the same time, her novel follows the associative laws of memory. In this way, a multifaceted generational panorama emerges from the Soviet Union in the 20th century to present-day Europe."
Together with writer Gunther Geltinger and author and literary critic Christoph Schröder, Hamann is responsible for selecting this year's literary prize winner. Previous laureates include Zsuzsa Bánk, Kurt Drawert, Zoë Jenny, Reinhard Kaiser-Mühlecker, Andreas Maier, Einar Schleef and Arnold Stadler.
Text source and further information about this event: http://literaturhaus-frankfurt.de/programm/termine/literaturpreis-2017-der-juergen-ponto-stiftung-an-sasha-marianna-salzmann-2017-11-29/
