Press Release

German Non-Fiction Prize 2020: Publishers submit 240 titles

152 publishers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland submit non-fiction titles / Kia Vahland is jury spokesperson / Awards ceremony to be held on 16 June 2020 in the Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss (Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace)

152 German-language publishers have put titles into the running for the first German Non-Fiction Prize. The publishers submitted a total of 240 titles to compete for non-fiction book of the year 2020. 124 of these publishers are based in Germany, 13 in Austria and 15 in Switzerland.

Each publisher was allowed to submit a maximum of two monographs, published (or to be published) between May 2019 and April 2020, when the nominations will be announced. In addition, each publisher could recommend five further titles from their own programme. This list of recommendations comprises 152 titles. The jury for the German Non-Fiction Prize may request additional titles from this list of recommendations.

During their first joint meeting, the members of the jury appointed Dr Kia Vahland (Süddeutsche Zeitung) as their spokesperson. The other members of the jury are: Prof Dr Albrecht Beutelspacher (Mathematikum science museum, Gießen), Susanne Beyer (Der Spiegel), Dr Klaus Kowalke (“Lessing und Kompanie” bookstore, Chemnitz), Tania Martini (die tageszeitung), Helmut Mayer (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and Dr Emilia Roig (Center for Intersectional Justice).

The jury will select the winning title through a two-stage process: The jurors will compile a list of nominations comprising eight titles, which will be announced on 21 April 2020. From this selection, they will then choose the non-fiction book of the year. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on 16 June 2020 in the Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss (Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace). The event will be moderated by Katja Gasser (ORF) and René Aguigah (Deutschlandfunk Kultur).

The Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association) will award this prize, worth a total of 42,500 euros, to an outstanding non-fiction book written in German that inspires social debate. The winner will receive 25,000 euros, the seven nominees 2,500 euros each.

The Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation) is the main sponsor of the prize, which is also supported by the technology and information provider MVB and the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss (Foundation of the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace).

Further information is available at www.deutscher-sachbuchpreis.de.

The hashtag is #DSP20

Press photo of the jury for download

Copyright: vntr.media

From left to right: Dr Kia Vahland (Süddeutsche Zeitung), Susanne Beyer (Der Spiegel), Helmut Mayer (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Tania Martini (die tageszeitung), Dr Emilia Roig (Center for Intersectional Justice), Dr Klaus Kowalke (“Lessing und Kompanie” bookstore, Chemnitz), Prof Dr Albrecht Beutelspacher (Mathematikum science museum, Gießen)