Bremen Literature Prize 2023 goes to Thomas Stangl
Thomas Stangl will receive the Bremen Literature Prize 2023, worth €25,000, for his novel Mercury Light, published by Matthes & Seitz Verlag.
“The Bremen Literature Prize 2023 goes to the Viennese author Thomas Stangl for his novel Quicksilver Light, in which he places his own family history against the horizon of the violent history of the twentieth century and reflects his own narrative in the lives of the Brontë sisters and their brother. With his never-ending power of language and imagination, Stangl poses the question of the power of language and the language of power,” said the jury.
Thomas Stangl, born in Vienna in 1966, studied philosophy and Spanish in Vienna and initially wrote essays, book reviews and short prose works for newspapers and literary magazines. Since his first book was published in 2004, he has created an extensive literary work that has won numerous awards, most recently the volume of short stories “The History of the Body” was published. Thomas Stangl lives in Vienna.
Martin Kordić will receive the €6,000 funding award for the Bremen Literature Prize 2023 for his novel Years with Martha, which was published by S. Fischer Verlag.
The jury explains the award: “Martin Kordić receives the sponsorship award for the Bremen Literature Prize. In his novel Years with Martha, he tells with quiet, sometimes evil humor about an illusion: the promise of overcoming the barriers of one's own migrant background through education. With great inventiveness he embeds the story of education and failed upward mobility into a surprising and unconventional love story.”
Martin Kordić was born in Celle in 1983 and grew up in Mannheim. He studied in Hildesheim and Zagreb. He has been working as an editor in book publishers for over ten years, initially in Cologne and now in Munich. For his debut novel “How I imagine happiness” he received the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize and the Alfred Döblin Medal. Years with Martha is his second novel.
The jury for the Bremen Literature Prize 2023 met under the chairmanship of Dr. Lothar Müller (journalist) with the members: Richard Kämmerlings (Die Welt), Barbara Lison (Bremen Literature Prize Foundation), Dr. Wiebke Porombka (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), Michael Sieber (Bremen Literature Prize Foundation), Dr. Daniela Strigl (Austria), Stefan Doubt (Switzerland).
Award ceremony:
The prizes will be awarded on January 23, 2023 in Bremen City Hall . On the evening before the award ceremony, January 22, 2023, a moderated reading by the two award winners will take place at 6 p.m. in the Glocke. The 47th Bremen Literary Week will be held around the time of the award ceremony.
October 12, 2022