This year, the German magazine „Der Spiegel” awarded its literary prize — Spiegel Buchpreis — for the first time. The jury selected the 20 best books published in Germany over the past twelve months, considering not only titles originally written in German but also translations.
Starting on 3 November, the magazine’s editorial team revealed the chosen titles one by one, highlighting criteria such as the topical relevance of the subject, linguistic originality, the impact of the fictional world on readers, and the coherence of the narrative.
Szczepan Twardoch’s latest novel „Die Nulllinie” took second place in the ranking. In an article by Nora Zukker, the author notes, among other things, that the decision to write a novel rather than a reportage allowed Twardoch to portray his characters with “moving psychological insight,” and that those who read the book “will not be the same people after finishing it.” The full article is available here.
The novel was published in February this year by Marginesy publishing house, and in Olaf Kühl’s translation by the German publisher Rowohlt. Soon, „Null” will also be published in Slovak, Belarusian, Italian, Ukrainian, and Japanese.