Marcel Beyer won the €50,000 (about $55,495) Georg Büchner Prize, awarded annually by the German Academy for Language and Literature to authors "writing in the German language whose work is considered especially meritorious and who have made a significant contribution to contemporary German cultural life." Beyer was honored "for his exploration of Nazi history through experimentation with language," Deutsche Welle reported. The jury said Beyer "masters the epic panorama just as well as poetic microscopy."
The Büchner Prize, "along with the Goethe Prize, is considered the most important literary prize for the German language. It is named after the author of the influential German play, Woyzeck," Deutsche Welle noted.
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A shortlist has been announced for the £5,000 (about $6,715) Wainwright Prize, which celebrates U.K. nature and travel writing "that best reflects renowned nature writer Alfred Wainwright's core values of celebrating the great British outdoors." The winner of the award, which is sponsored by Wainwright Golden Beer and supported by partners Stanfords and the National Trust, will be announced August 5. The six shortlisted titles are:
Common Ground by Rob Cowen
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane
The Moth Snowstorm by Michael McCarthy
The Fish Ladder by Katharine Norbury
The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks