Literary award · Germany · since 1994

Uwe Johnson Prize

German literary prize. Established 1994 in Germany.

About Uwe Johnson Prize

The Uwe Johnson Prize is an annual German literary award. The award is named after the writer Uwe Johnson (1934–1984) and was first awarded in 1994. It is awarded for "outstanding literary works in which there are links to the poetics of Uwe Johnson". Alternating the main prize for a work and the Förderpreis (promotional prize) for the best debut is awarded by the Mecklenburg Literature Society, the Nordkurier (1994–2016), the Berlin law firm Gentz und Partner (since 2012) and the Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands (since 2017). The prize is endowed with €20,000 (Förderpreis: €5,000).

From the Wikipedia article “Uwe Johnson Prize”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2026Ingo Schulze—
2025Kurt Tallert—
2024Iris Wolff—
2022Jenny ErpenbeckKairos
2021Benjamin Quaderer—
2013Matthias Senkel—
2011Judith Zander—
1997Marcel Beyer—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Uwe Johnson Prize for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data