Adelbert von Chamisso Prize 2016: Enriching German Literature

In Munich, the writers and translators Esther Kinsky and Uljana Wolf were awarded the Robert Bosch Stiftung’s 2016 Adelbert von Chamisso Prize, worth 15,000 euros. The Foundation awards the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize to honor outstanding German-language authors whose work is shaped by a change of culture. Furthermore, the award winners are united through their unusual way of using the language in a manner which enriches German literature. This makes the prize the only one of its kind in Germany.

"The literary work of both authors is so impressive that the jury chose two equally deserving winners of the main prize this year," says Uta-Micaela Dürig, Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. “We are therefore very pleased that we are able to honor two outstanding authors, Esther Kinsky and Uljana Wolf.”

Esther Kinsky was honored for all of her work to date, in particular for her novel Am Fluss (Matthes & Seitz, 2014). According to the jury, she has "proven herself as a linguistically perceptive observer of human existence in the 21st century". 

Uljana Wolf received the Chamisso Prize for her work to date, in particular for her volume of poetry Meine schönste Lengevitch (kookbooks, 2013). "Her approximations of the foreign through playful reflection of linguistically conveyed reality are a successful example of future-oriented, cosmopolitan literature," said the jury.