Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur - Festival of German-Language Literature

Where does it take place?
In Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia in Southern Austria.

What is it?
It's a festival, a literary competition and a kind of workshop all rolled into one! Authors are invited by the jury to come to Klagenfurt and take part in the competition. During the three-day festival, each author reads an extract from a previously unpublished work of prose. The readings take place in front of the jury and are open to the public. They are also filmed live by the television station 3Sat. The jury discusses the texts and selects the winners. The best works are included in the annual anthology Klagenfurter Texte, published by Piper Verlag.

What can you win?
The main prize is the 'Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis', one of the most prestigious prizes to be awarded for German-language literary works. This year it came with a grant of 22,500 Euros. In addition to the Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis, there are four further prizes: the 'Preis der Jury', the 'Ernst-Willner-Preis', the '3Sat-Preis' and the 'Kelag-Publikumspreis'. The 'Kelag-Publikumspreis' is the only prize not to be awarded by the jury: the winner is elected by the public over the Internet!

Why haven't I heard of the festival before?
Until 2000, the festival was known by the name of its main prize, the Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis. The Bachmann-Preis has been awarded annually since 1977.

And who was Ingeborg Bachmann?
Ingeborg Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt in 1926, and went on to become one of Austria's greatest writers. She was hailed as one of the great lyric talents of the postwar years, but later turned away from poetry to produce collections of short stories. She was working on a cycle of novels at the time of her death in 1973. Her work has been translated into numerous languages including English.

So when can I visit the festival?
The festival takes place every year in Klagenfurt in June.

Klagenfurt 2003
This year, eighteen authors from Austria, Germany and Switzerland travelled to Klagenfurt to read from their work. The Preis der Jury was awarded to Feridun Zaimoglu, the Ernst-Willner-Preis to Ulla Lenze, and the 3Sat-Preis to Fahrad Showghi. Inka Parei was the winner of both the Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis and the Kelag-Publikumspreis.

Inka Parei was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1967, and studied German, Sociology, Politics and Chinese. Her debut novel, Die Schattenboxerin (reviewed in new books in german) was awarded the Hans-Erich-Nossack-Preis. The extract that she read at Klagenfurt is from a new novel that will be published next autumn by Schöffling.