The shortlist has been selected for the 2024 German Book Prize, which is sponsored by the Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the Börsenverein, the German book industry association. The winner receives €25,000 (about $27,800), and each finalist receives €2,500 (about $2,780). The award ceremony takes place in Frankfurt on October 14, on the eve of the book fair. The shortlist:
Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir? (Hey Good Morning, How Are You?) by Martina Hefter
Hasenprosa (Rabbits' Prose) by Maren Kames
Die Projektoren (The Projectionists) by Clemens Meyer
Vierundsiebzig (Seventy-Four) by Ronya Othmann
Von Norden rollt ein Donner (Thunder Rolls in from the North) by Markus Thielemann
Lichtungen (Glades) by Iris Wolff
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The Fossil Hunter by Kate Winter has won the £5,000 (about $6,560) 2024 Klaus Flugge Prize, which honors "the most exciting and promising newcomer to children's picture book illustration."
Organizers said that The Fossil Hunter "tells the story of Mary Anning, the 19th century palaeontologist whose discoveries in the cliffs of Lyme Regis transformed scientists' understanding of the world. Via atmospheric watercolour illustrations, the book skilfully tells Mary's personal story and details her discoveries and their scientific impact. Special gatefolds are a key part of the book, opening to reveal the prehistoric past, allowing readers to dip into Mary's mind to see what she is thinking.
"Kate Winter carried out much of her research for the book at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge, where she lives, as well as at the Natural History Museum, London. She also read Mary Anning's letters and journals and spent time in Lyme Regis, and it was walking on the beach and drawing in the places Mary loved that helped her really get to know her subject."
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The winners of the 2024 Wainwright Prize, awarded annually to books that "most successfully inspire readers to embrace nature and the outdoors and develop a respect for the environment," are:
Nature Writing:
Winner: Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World by Michael Malay
Highly Commended: Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee
Writing on Conservation:
Winner: Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World by Helen Czerski
Highly Commended: Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain's Wild Boar by Chantal Lyons
Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation:
Winner: Foxlight by Katya Balen
Highly Commended: Global by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano