Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels: Kim de l’Horizon receives the German Book Prize 2022 for “Blutbuch” (“Blood Book”)

(Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

Statement from the jury:
“With tremendous creative energy, the non-binary narrator of Kim de l’Horizon’s novel ‘Blutbuch’ (‘Blood Book’) searches for a language of their own. What narratives exist for a body that eludes conventional notions of gender? The fixed point of the narrative is Kim’s own grandmother – ‘Großmeer’ (literally ‘great sea’) in Bernese German – in whose ocean Kim risked drowning as a child and which they now swim free of through writing. The form of the novel is in constant motion. Every linguistic attempt, from vivid scenes to passages of essay-like memoir, reveals an urgency and literary innovation that challenged and inspired the jury.” 

The members of the jury for the German Book Prize 2022 are: jury spokesperson Miriam Zeh (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), Erich Klein (independent critic, Vienna), Frank Menden (bookshop “stories! Die Buchhandlung”, Hamburg), Uli Ormanns (bookshop “Agnes Buchhandlung”, Cologne), Isabelle Vonlanthen (Literaturhaus Zürich), Selma Wels (curator and moderator, Frankfurt) and Jan Wiele (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). 

The other novels that were shortlisted for the award are:
Fatma Aydemir: Dschinns (Carl Hanser, February 2022), Kristine Bilkau: Nebenan (Luchterhand, March 2022), Daniela Dröscher: Lügen über meine Mutter (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, August 2022), Jan Faktor: Trottel (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, September 2022) and Eckhart Nickel: Spitzweg (Piper, April 2022). 

With the German Book Prize 2022, 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) honours the best German-language novel of the year. The Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation) is the main sponsor of the German Book Prize, 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. 

A press photo of Kim de l’Horizon will be available for download at approx. 8:30 p.m. at www.boersenverein.de/pressefotos.