Karl Dedecius Prize

Prize for Polish Translators of German Literature and German Translators of Polish Literature
Every other year, a German and a Polish translator respectively receive the prize endowed with 10,000 euros for building bridges with language. The candidates are nominated by a German-Polish jury chaired by Professor Karl Dedecius, doyen of German translators of Polish literature and distinguished mediator between Germany and Poland. The gala award ceremony is organized by the Deutsche Polen-Institut and held alternately in Cracow, Poland and Darmstadt, Germany. The prize was created jointly by Karl Dedecius and the foundation in 1981 to recognize outstanding work by Polish translators of German. It was supplemented by a promotional prize for Polish translators in 1992, and has been bestowed as a twin prize for both German and Polish translators since 2003. Krzysztof Jachimczak and Hans-Peter Hoelscher-Obermaier were awarded the Karl-Dedecius Prize in 2003, while Maria Przybylowska and Dr. Olaf Kühl received the prize in 2005. In 2007 Tadeusz Zatorski and Martin Pollack were awarded the prize. The award was offered at the Translators Center at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 17, 2008. The next award ceremony will take place on May 22, 2009 in Cracow, Poland.