Overview

• The award was announced Monday evening in Frankfurt, with Elmiger receiving €25,000 as the winner of the prestigious German-language prize.
• The jury called the novel “an event” and “a fascinating trip into the heart of darkness,” praising a style that is distant yet gripping and largely told in indirect speech.
• "Die Holländerinnen" follows a theater-group expedition into the rainforest and refracts the real disappearance of two Dutch travelers in Panama through a hybrid of documentary and fiction.
• Booksellers report the Hanser edition is sold out in many places with delivery delays of several weeks following the prize announcement.
• The panel reviewed 229 eligible novels before selecting a six-title shortlist that included works by Kaleb Erdmann, Jehona Kicaj, Thomas Melle, Fiona Sironic and Christine Wunnicke.