Nelly Sachs Prize
The Nelly Sachs Prize (German: Nelly Sachs Preis) is a literary prize given every two years by the German city of Dortmund. Named after the Jewish poet and Nobel laureate Nelly Sachs, the prize includes a cash award of €15,000. It honours authors for outstanding literary contributions to the promotion of understanding between peoples.[1][2]
Because there were not enough funds to honour an awardee in 2009, the prize was awarded in 2010. This was the first time that a year was skipped in the biennial schedule.[3]
In 2019, the judges for the 2019 award reversed their decision to give the prize to Kamila Shamsie, after the German website Ruhrbarone pointed out her long-standing public support for the BDS movement.[4][5][6] The Dortmund City Council, the hosts of the award stated: "Shamsie's political positioning to actively participate in the cultural boycott as part of the BDS (Boycott Disinvestment Sanctions) campaign against the Israeli government is clearly in contradiction to the statutory objectives of the award and the spirit of the Nelly Sachs Prize."[7]
In response to the withdrawal, Shamsie said: "In the just-concluded Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to annex up to one third of the West Bank, in contravention of international law and his political opponent Benny Gantz's objection to this was that Netanyahu had stolen his idea; this closely followed the killing of two Palestinian teenagers by Israeli forces – which was condemned as 'appalling' by the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. In this political context, the jury has chosen to withdraw the award from me on the basis of my support for a non-violent campaign to bring pressure on the Israeli government."[4]
Awardees
[edit]| Year | Awardee | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Nelly Sachs | Sweden |
| 1963 | Johanna Moosdorf | Germany |
| 1965 | Max Tau | Norway |
| 1967 | Alfred Andersch | Switzerland |
| 1969 | Giorgio Bassani | Italy |
| 1971 | Ilse Aichinger | Austria |
| 1973 | Paul Schallück | Germany |
| 1975 | Elias Canetti | England |
| 1977 | Hermann Kesten | United States |
| 1979 | Erich Fromm | Germany |
| 1981 | Horst Bienek | Germany |
| 1983 | Hilde Domin | Germany |
| 1985 | Nadine Gordimer | South Africa |
| 1987 | Milan Kundera | France |
| 1989 | Andrzej Szczypiorski | Poland |
| 1991 | David Grossman | Israel |
| 1993 | Juan Goytisolo | Spain |
| 1995 | Michael Ondaatje | Canada |
| 1997 | Javier Marías | Spain |
| 1999 | Christa Wolf | Germany |
| 2001 | Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt | France |
| 2003 | Per Olov Enquist | Sweden |
| 2005 | Aharon Appelfeld | Israel |
| 2007 | Rafik Schami | Syria/Germany |
| 2010 | Margaret Atwood | Canada |
| 2011 | Norman Manea[8] | Romania |
| 2013 | Abbas Khider | Iraq/Germany |
| 2015 | Marie NDiaye[9] | France |
| 2017 | Bachtyar Ali | Iraq |
| 2019 | Not awarded | |
| 2021 | Katerina Poladjan | Germany |
| 2023 | Saša Stanišić[10] | Bosnia/Germany |
References
[edit]- ^ "Culture Facts". Dortmund.de (English). Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "Literaturpreis der Stadt Dortmund - Nelly-Sachs-Preis" (in German). Archived from the original on 3 January 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "Nelly-Sachs-Preis geht an Margaret Atwood". Der Westen (WAZ). 10 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Flood, Alison (19 September 2019). "Kamila Shamsie's book award withdrawn over her part in Israel boycott". Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Dortmund: No Nelly Sachs Prize for Kamila Shamsie because of BDS activities". Ruhrbarone. 18 September 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
- ^ Guardian Staff (13 February 2015). "Over 100 artists announce a cultural boycott of Israel | Letters". Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Author Kamila Shamsie stripped of literary award over BDS support". www.aljazeera.com. 18 September 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
- ^ "Nelly-Sachs-Preis für Norman Manea". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 22 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Marie N'Diaye erhält Nelly-Sachs-Preis". dortmund.de (in German). 7 September 2015. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- ^ "Nelly-Sachs-Preis 2023 geht an Saša Stanišić". literaturlandwestfalen (in German). Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
External links
[edit]- Official website (in German)