2023-11-06 20:00:38
Clemens J. Setz was awarded the Austrian Book Prize for “Moons before the Landing” (Suhrkamp Verlag). The debut award went to Arad Dabiri for “Drama” (Septime Verlag).
Vienna (OTS) – Clemens J. Setz was awarded the Austrian Book Prize on November 6th for his book “Moons before the Landing” (Suhrkamp Verlag). The debut award went to Arad Dabiri for the title “Drama” (Septime Verlag). The award ceremony took place at the start of the Vienna Book Week in front of around 200 invited guests in the Vienna Casino on Schwarzenbergplatz. Dorothee Hartinger and Philipp Hauß led the evening together with the students of the second year of acting from the Music and Art Private University of Vienna. The musical accompaniment was provided by SarahBernhardt: Sigrid Horn (voice), Sarah Metzler (voice, harp) and Bernhard Scheiblauer (voice, ukulele, banjolele).
Austrian Book Prize 2023: Clemens J. Setz “Moons before Landing” (Suhrkamp Verlag)
Reasons of the jury:
Clemens J. Setz’s novel “Moons before the Landing” tells the life of a lateral thinker “avant la lettre” without ridiculing or, conversely, trivializing his obscure world of thought. The inner life of the protagonist Peter Bender, whose historical model relatively successfully propagated the so-called hollow world theory in the 1920s, is revealed in all its shades and social ramifications, but never denounced. Even in the obvious insincerities towards his ardent supporters and the unkindness towards his own wife and his secret lover, Bender comes across as human and somehow even sympathetic. In view of the radical political upheavals in the 1930s with their much deeper ethical abysses and brutalities, Bender’s twisted worldview suddenly no longer seems as hair-raising as it initially did. His sad fate and that of his Jewish wife under National Socialism are reported as fragmentarily as they have been handed down, so that decency is always maintained. The culturally, historically and linguistically extremely sensitive narrative instance never takes sides and suggests no judgment. In this way, readers can develop their own approach to the complex topic and experience the social drift of a person who, despite everything, is engaging “from the inside”.
Also nominated for the shortlist were: Milena Michiko Flašar – Above Earth, Below Heaven (Wagenbach Verlag), Wolf Haas – Property (Carl Hanser Verlag), Maja Haderlap – Night Women (Suhrkamp Verlag) and Teresa Präauer – Cooking in the Wrong Century (Wallstein Verlag ).
The Austrian Book Prize is worth 20,000 euros, the four other titles on the shortlist are worth 2,500 euros each.
Austrian Book Prize 2023 – Debut: Arad Dabiri “Drama” (Septime Verlag)
Reasons of the jury:
Recent Austrian literature is rich in the great horror that haunts the provinces. But city novels are rare – and big city novels are even rarer due to the lack of big cities. “Drama” by Arad Dabiri is a big city novel. Vienna becomes a labyrinth – and the second main protagonist of the story. The city is breathing heavily. She groans and staggers. The only things Dabiris Vienna shares with the regularly awarded “most livable metropolis in the world” are the pretty old building facades and the airport, where the protagonist’s odyssey begins. He wanted and went away – and comes back. For a mangy night. For a rush without regret. He meets real and false friends, former and imagined friends. He hears their aimless vultures and vultures. “Drama” is – of course – highly dramatic: a short day’s long journey into the night. And: “Drama” is drama: big gutter theater, a smear comedy regarding scene emperors and happy people, regarding their sayings and the longings, fears and abysses hidden in these sayings. Dabiri plays with theater as a form, from the overture to the final curtain – without making a big deal regarding it. “Drama” is fast and what might once have been called “snotty.” “Drama” is satire and suada, a big, very conscious and self-confident game with the game within the game – and serious in a playful way. After reading you want to take a shower. And read “Drama” once more following showering.
Also nominated for the shortlist debut were: Thomas Oláh – Doppler (Müry Salzmann Verlag) and Eva Reisinger – Kill Men (Leykam Verlag).
The debut prize as part of the Austrian Book Prize is worth 10,000 euros, the two other titles on the shortlist are worth 2,500 euros each. The debut prize is donated by the Vienna Chamber of Labor.
Die Jury
The jury for the Austrian Book Prize in 2023 consists of Verena Brunner-Loss (bookseller, Brunner bookstore), Imogena Doderer (culture editor, ORF), Joachim Leitner (culture editor, Tiroler Tageszeitung), Katrin Schumacher (literary critic, MDR) and Norbert Christian Wolf ( Literary scholar, University of Vienna).
About the Austrian Book Prize
The aim of the Austrian Book Prize is to honor the quality and independence of Austrian literature and to give it the attention it deserves throughout the German-speaking world.
The Austrian Book Prize is being organized by the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport (BMKÖS), the Main Association of the Austrian Book Trade and the Vienna Chamber of Labor in 2023 for the eighth time.
The winners from previous years
Book Prize: Verena Roßbacher (2022), Raphaela Edelbauer (2021), Xaver Bayer (2020), Norbert Gstrein (2019), Daniel Wisser (2018), Eva Menasse (2017), Friederike Mayröcker (2016)
Debut prize: Lena-Marie Biertimpel (2022), Anna Albinus (2021), Leander Fischer (2020), Angela Lehner (2019), Marie Gamillscheg (2018), Nava Ebrahimi (2017), Friederike Gösweiner (2016)
Downloads, Fotos & Links
The logo of the Austrian Book Prize is there here for download ready.
Further information regarding the Austrian Book Prize 2023 can be found at oesterreichischer-buchpreis.at and up Facebook. Portrait photos of Clemens J. Setz and Arad Dabiri You are welcome to use it provided you provide the photo credit.
Questions & Contact:
Main Association of the Austrian Book Trade
Esther Karner
Grünangergasse 4, 1010 Vienna
Tel.: +43 1 512 15 35 24
karner@hvb.at
1699304263
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