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.
History and Administration 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.
2019 Controversy and Withdrawal 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.
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."
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."
Awardees
Year Awardee Born Died Country1961 Nelly Sachs 1891 1970 /1963 Johanna Moosdorf 1911 2000 1965 Max Tau 1897 1976 /1967 Alfred Andersch 1914 1980 1969 Giorgio Bassani 1916 2000 1971 Ilse Aichinger 1921 2016 1973 Paul Schallück 1922 1976 1975 Elias Canetti 1905 1994 /1977 Hermann Kesten 1900 1996 1979 Erich Fromm 1900 1980 1981 Horst Bienek 1930 1990 1983 Hilde Domin 1909 2006 1985 Nadine Gordimer 1923 2014 1987 Milan Kundera 1929 2023 /1989 Andrzej Szczypiorski 1928 2000 1991 David Grossman 1954 1993 Juan Goytisolo 1931 2017 1995 Michael Ondaatje 1943 /1997 Javier Marías 1951 2022 1999 Christa Wolf 1929 2011 2001 Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt 1928 2003 Per Olov Enquist 1934 2020 2005 Aharon Appelfeld 1932 2018 2007 Rafik Schami 1946 2010 Margaret Atwood 1939 2011 Norman Manea 1936 2013 Abbas Khider 1973 2015 Marie NDiaye 1967 2017 Bachtyar Ali 1966 2019 Kamila Shamsie 1973 2021 Katerina Poladjan 1971 2023 Saša Stanišić 1978 2025 Yoko Tawada 1960
References
External links