The finalists for the 2021 Kurd Laßwitz Preis were announced on March 30. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.

The German language editions of Stephen Baxter’s World Engines: Destroyer, James S. A. Corey’s Tiamat’s Wrath, William Gibson’s Agency, Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop, and Tade Thompson’s Rosewater are some of the finalists for Best Foreign Novel.

And in the Best Translation category, the translators of  N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy, Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop, and Tade Thompson’s Rosewater are among the nominees.

Voting is open until May 31. The award ceremony will take place during PentaCon 12 on the first weekend in November in Dresden.

Best German language novel first published in 2020

• Zoë Beck: Paradise City (Suhrkamp)
• Gabriele Behrend: Salzgras & Lavendel (p.machinery)
• Christoph Dittert: Fallender Stern (Piper)
• Andreas Eschbach: Eines Menschen Flügel (Lübbe)
• Tom Hillenbrand: Qube (Aus der Welt der Hologrammatica 2) (Tor)
• Sameena Jehanzeb: Was Preema nicht weiß
• Marc-Uwe Kling: QualityLand 2.0 (Ullstein)
• Heribert Kurth: Unter den Sternen von Tha (p.machinery)
• Michael Marrak: Anima ex Machina (2. Novellenroman des Kanon-Zyklus) (Edition Mono/Monochrom)
• Uwe Post: E-Tot (Polarize)

Best German language short fiction first published in 2020:

• Galax Acheronian: “Verloren auf Firr’Dars” in Hyper Orbis (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
• Gabriele Behrend: “Meerwasser” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
• Christian Endres: “Der Klang sich lichtenden Nebels” in Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
• Kai Focke: “Gastropoda galactica” in Das Alien tanzt Walzer (p.machinery)
• Heidrun Jänchen: “Mietnomaden” in Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
• Axel Kruse: “Grassoden in “2101 – Was aus uns wurde (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
• Hans Jürgen Kugler: “Die Insulaner” in Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
• Christian Künne: “Friedensfahrt” in Rebellion in Sirius City (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
• Thorsten Küper: “Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
• Frank Lauenroth: “Delter” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
• Michael Marrak: “Insomnia” in Das Haus Lazarus (Memoranda)
• Uwe Post: “Terra Halbpension” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
• Carsten Schmitt: “Wagners Stimme” in Wie künstlich ist Intelligenz? (Plan9)
• Angela und Karlheinz Steinmüller: “Marslandschaften” in Exodus 41 und in Marslandschaften (Memoranda)

Best foreign novel first published in German in 2020:

• Basma Abdel Aziz: Das Tor (Heyne)
• Baoshu: Großes steht bevor in Zerbrochene Sterne (Heyne)
• Stephen Baxter: Artefakt (Sternenpforte 1) (Heyne)
• Agustina Bazterrica: Wie die Schweine (Suhrkamp)
• James S. A. Corey: Tiamats Zorn (The Expanse 8) (Heyne)
• William Gibson: Agency (Jackpot 2) (Tropen)
• Zack Jordan: Last Human – Allein gegen die Galaxis (Heyne)
• John Marrs: The Passengers – Du entscheidest über Leben und Tod (Heyne)
• Christopher Paolini: Infinitum – Die Ewigkeit der Sterne (Knaur)
• Samanta Schweblin: Hundert Augen (Suhrkamp)
• Simon Stålenhag: Tales from the Loop (Tor)
• Dennis E. Taylor: Die Singularitätsfalle (Heyne)
• Jodi Taylor: Miss Maxwells chaotischer Zeitkompass (Die Chroniken von St. Mary’s 2) (Blanvalet)
• Tade Thompson: Rosewater (Wormwood 1) (Golkonda)
• David Wellington: Die letzte Astronautin (Piper)

Best translation into German first published in 2020

• Henning Ahrens for the translation of Kira Jane Buxton’s Hollow Kingdom – Das Jahr der Krähe (Tor)
• Larissa Bender for the translation of Basma Abdel Aziz’ Das Tor (Heyne)
• Pia Biundo for the translation of Vlad Hernández’ Nemesis in Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende (Hirnkost)
• Biundo for the translation of Vlad Hernández’ Lebensstationen eines Idealisten in c’t 25/2020 (heise)
• Susanne Gerold for the translation of N.K. Jemisin’s Die große Stille (3 Bände) (Knaur)
• Oliver Hoffmann for the translation of Tanya Huff’s Im Dienst der Föderation (Confederation of Valor 1) (Plan9)
• Eva Kemper for the translation of Katie Hale’s Mein Name ist Monster (Fischer)
• Jürgen Langowski for the translation of Zack Jordan’s Last Human – Allein gegen die Galaxis (Heyne)
• Stefan Pluschkat for the translation of Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop (Ur Varselklotet) (Tor)
• Jakob Schmidt for the new translaton of Frank Herbert’s Die Kinder des Wüstenplaneten” (Der Wüstenplanet 3) (Heyne)
• Jakob Schmidt for the translation of Tade Thompson’s Rosewater” (Wormwood 1) (Golkonda)

Best cover art first published in 2020

• Lothar Bauer for the cover of Nova 29 (p.machinery)
• Lothar Bauer for the cover of Das Alien tanzt Walzer (p.machinery)
• Uli Bendick for the cover and interior illustrations of Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
• Dirk Berger for the cover of Exodus 40
• Arndt Drechsler for the cover of Hyper Orbis (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
• Jan Hoffmann for the cover of phantastisch! 79 (Atlantis)
• Meike Schultchen for the cover of Cozmic 2 (Atlantis)
• Michael Vogt for the cover of Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende (Hirnkost)

Best German language audio drama first broadcast in 2020:

• “Cassandra Rising” by Martin Heindel (Director: Martin Heindel, Composition: Ralf Haarmann, Production: WDR)
• “Heaven Line – Traumstadt wird zur Todesfalle” by Bodo Traber (Director: Bodo Traber, Dramaturgy: Natalie Szallies, Production: WDR)
• “Der zweite Schlaf” von Heinz Sommer nach dem Roman von Robert Harris (Director: Leonhard Koppelmann, Production: HR)

Special award for one-time outstanding achievements in SF in 2020

• Hans Frey for his non-fiction books on the history of German science fiction, Fortschritt und Fiasko and Aufbruch in den Abgrund
• Torben Kuhlmann for his illustrated book Einstein – Die fantastische Reise einer Maus durch Raum und Zeit
• René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler for the Publication of the SF anthologies Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel and Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende

Special award for longterm outstanding achievements in SF in 2020

• Freundeskreis Science Fiction Leipzig e.V. for the continuous organization of the ElsterCon, even in times of a pandemic
• Rico Gehrke und Peggy Weber-Gehrke for supporting the SF short story through the anthologies in their publishing house for modern fantasy
• Christina Hacker and the team of the PRFZ member magazine ” SOL “for their unpaid work full of energy and enthusiasm on the occasion of the 100th edition
• Hardy Kettlitt for his Memoranda Verlag
• Ralf Peter Krämer for 50 years of involvement in fandom from Stanislaw Lem Club to the Penta-Con
• Dieter von Reeken for his services to the classic German SF and the history of the German-speaking SF
• Science Fiction Club Deutschland e.V. for the promotion of SF literature for 65 years
• Jörg Weigand for his tireless support, including young authors