German Book Prize 2025: introducing the 20 nominated novels

The jury for the German Book Prize 2025 has nominated 20 novels. Since the call for submissions went out, the jury has reviewed 229 titles published – or yet to be published – between October 2024 and 16 September 2025, when the shortlist will be announced. 

Jury spokesperson Laura de Weck (Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen) released the following statement:

“Our jury discussions in the fragile year of 2025 were guided by creative language, narrative perspective and the alarming reality of the present. Uncertainty defines our times. Yet one thing is certain: this year’s longlist brings together 20 outstanding novels that reflect the full spectrum of our precarious reality – through classical storytelling, tapestries of speech and unruly lists; through historical panoramas, contemporary observations and dystopias; through autobiographical and fantastical tales. The titles include debuts and established voices – authors who use absurdity to entertain and unsettle us. How in the world did we get to where we are today? And what are these conditions doing to us? We have every reason to be worried about the future – but not about literature.”

The nominated novels are (in alphabetic order):

• Kathrin Bach: Lebensversicherung (Verlag Voland & Quist, February 2025)
• Marko Dinić: Buch der Gesichter (Paul Zsolnay Verlag, August 2025)
• Nava Ebrahimi: Und Federn überall (Luchterhand Literaturverlag, September 2025)
• Dorothee Elmiger: Die Holländerinnen (Carl Hanser Verlag, August 2025)
• Kaleb Erdmann: Die Ausweichschule (park x ullstein, July 2025)
• Annett Gröschner: Schwebende Lasten (Verlag C.H.Beck, April 2025)
• Dmitrij Kapitelman: Russische Spezialitäten (Hanser Berlin, February 2025)
• Jina Khayyer: Im Herzen der Katze (Suhrkamp Verlag, July 2025)
• Jehona Kicaj: ë (Wallstein Verlag, July 2025)
• Michael Köhlmeier: Die Verdorbenen (Carl Hanser Verlag, January 2025)
• Jonas Lüscher: Verzauberte Vorbestimmung (Carl Hanser Verlag, January 2025)
• Thomas Melle: Haus zur Sonne (Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, August 2025)
• Jacinta Nandi: Single Mom Supper Club (Rowohlt Hundert Augen, June 2025)
• Gesa Olkusz: Die Sprache meines Bruders (Residenz Verlag, March 2025)
• Lena Schätte: Das Schwarz an den Händen meines Vaters (S.ִ Fischer Verlag, March 2025)
• Lina Schwenk: Blinde Geister (Verlag C.H.Beck, August 2025)
• Fiona Sironic: Am Samstag gehen die Mädchen in den Wald und jagen Sachen in die Luft (Ecco Verlag, March 2025)
• Peter Wawerzinek: Rom sehen und nicht sterben (Penguin Verlag, September 2025)
• Christine Wunnicke: Wachs (Berenberg Verlag, March 2025)
• Feridun Zaimoglu: Sohn ohne Vater (Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, February 2025) 

In addition to Laura de Weck, the members of the jury are: Maria Carolina Foi (University of Trieste), Jürgen Kaube (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Friedhelm Marx (University of Bamberg), Kathrin Matern (“Frau Rilke” bookshop, Neustrelitz), Lara Sielmann (Deutschlandfunk Kultur) and Shirin Sojitrawalla (independent critic). 

The next step will be for the members of the jury to select six titles from the longlist for inclusion on the shortlist, which will be announced on 16 September 2025. The six shortlisted authors will only find out who among them has won the German Book Prize on the evening of the award ceremony itself. The winner will receive 25,000 euros, the five finalists 2,500 euros each. The award ceremony will be held in the Kaisersaal of the Frankfurt Römer on 13 October 2025, to coincide with the start of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, and will be broadcast live.

The German Book Prize is awarded by the Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association). The main sponsor of the prize is the Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation), and Frankfurter Buchmesse and the city of Frankfurt am Main are also partners.

Get to know the nominated novels: reading samples and blog reviews

The paperback “Deutscher Buchpreis 2025: Die Nominierten” (“German Book Prize 2025: The Nominees”) will be available shortly, free of charge, in many bookshops throughout Germany. With reading samples from all the nominated books and information about the authors, it invites readers to discover the stories. The compilation is published by the technology and information provider MVB.

In the coming weeks, under the hashtag #buchpreisbloggen, 20 literary bloggers will each present one of the nominated titles. The reviews will be collected on www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/news and shared on the social media channels of the German Book Prize.

A press photo of the jury is available at www.boersenverein.de/pressefotos.

More information about the German Book Prize 2025 can be found at www.deutscher-buchpreis.de.

The hashtag for the German Book Prize 2025 is #dbp25.