A ten-member expert jury consisting of representatives from the book trade, publishing, library, school, university and media selected Köller’s debut novel from over 100 submitted titles.
The prize, worth € 4,000, has been given since 1984 by the town of Wetzlar, which is home to the Phantastische Bibliothek-Wetzlar (Fantasy Library Wetzlar), with the largest publicly accessible SFF collection in the world. The aim of the library is to collect everything in print which belongs to: science fiction, fantasy, literature, classical fantasy, horror, utopian novels, fantastic journey and adventure novels, fairy tales, saga, myths, etc. At the moment the library is in possession of 150,000 titles.
The Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar has also announced the winner of its award for children’s picture books, the Huckepack Bilderbuchpreis 2021. The Huckepack jury unanimously selected Ein eiskalter Fisch [An ice cold fish] from a total of 444 picture books as this year’s winner:
Frauke Angel (Text) & Elisabeth Kihßl (Illustration): Ein eiskalter Fisch. Innsbruck/Wien: Tyrolia, 2020
The longlist for another German fantasy award, the 2021 Phantastikpreis der Stadt Wetzlar (Fantasy Award of the City of Wetzlar) has been announced: has been announced.
The prize has been awarded since 1984 and is worth € 4,000.
As for why Wetzlar, a town of 52,000 people in Hessen, has its own fantasy award — Wetzlar is home to the Phantastische Bibliothek-Wetzlar (Fantasy Library Wetzlar), which has the largest publicly accessible SFF collection in the world. The aim of the library is to collect everything in print which belongs to: science fiction, fantasy, literature, classical fantasy, horror, utopian novels, fantastic journey and adventure novels, fairy tales, saga, myths, etc. At the moment the library is in possession of 150,000 titles.
The books on the 2021 longlist are:
Raphaela Edelbauer: Dave (Klett-Cotta)
Andreas Eschbach: Eines Menschen Flügel (Lübbe)
Katharina J. Ferner: Der Anbeginn (Limbus Verlag)
Anne Freytag: Aus schwarzem Wasser (dtv bold)
Theresa Hannig: König und Meister (Edition Roter Drache)
Sameena Jehanzeb: Was Preema nicht weiß (Selbstverlag)
Katharina Köller: Was ich im Wasser sah (Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt)
Michael Marrak: Anima ex Machina (edition mono/monochrom)
Ursula Poznanski: Cryptos (Loewe)
Peter Schwindt: Das Buch des Wisperns (Fischer Sauerländer)
The Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar also has an award for children’s picture books, the Huckepack Bilderbuchpreis 2021, and has announced the finalists. These are all genres of picture books, not just sff.
Sydney Smith: Unsichtbar in der großen Stadt. Aus dem Englischen von Bernadette Ott. Stuttgart: Aladin, 2020
Jan de Kinder: Keine Angst, großer Wolf. Aus dem Niederländischen von Eva Schweikart. Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer Sauerländer, 2020
Davina Bell (Text) & Allison Colpoys (Illustration): Alfie und der Clownfisch. Aus dem Englischen von Salah Naoura. Berlin: Insel, 2020
Simon Philip (Text) & Kate Hindley (Illustration): Hier kommt Harry! Aus dem Englischen von Uwe-Michael Gutzschhahn. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 2020
Barroux: Mein Papa, der Alleskönner. Aus dem Französischen von Andreas Illmann. Berlin: Schaltzeit, 2020
Chris Naylor-Ballesteros: Der Koffer. Aus dem Englischen von Uwe[1]Michael Gutzschhahn. Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer Sauerländer, 2020
Frauke Angel (Text) & Elisabeth Kihßl (Illustration): Ein eiskalter Fisch. Innsbruck/Wien: Tyrolia, 2020
