Festival of German-Language Literature

The Festival of German-Language Literature is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of awards are given, the major one being the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, first awarded in 1977 and one of the most important awards for literature in the German language.

In the mid seventies, the journalist and writer Humbert Fink and the chairman of the Austrian Radio and TV (ORF) studio in Carinthia at that time, Ernst Willner, decided to establish a literary competition based on an event held by Gruppe 47. They were able to enlist Marcel Reich-Ranicki amongst others onto the original jury. The result was the Festival of German-Language Literature, which has taken place annually since 1977 and is televised live by ORF.

The main prize of the Festival is given in memory of Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973), one of the most distinguished Austrian writers.

The prize winner is determined during a three-day reading event in which the invited candidates present their literary contributions, which have to be unpublished, to the nine-member professional jury and the public. Each presentation is about 25 minutes long and the original language of these contributions must be German. A moderator presents and guides the readings and the discussions of the jury and the writers have to convince both the jury and the public of the quality of their contributions.

In 2008, the jury was reduced to seven members, the competing writers from eighteen to fourteen. Since 2006, the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize has been endowed with 25,000 EUR. In 2009, a total of 56,500 EUR was awarded to the participants.

Several other literature prizes are awarded during the Festival, in total usually three to five awards. Over the years, additional sponsored prizes have been awarded:

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