Georg Büchner Prize goes to Jürgen Becker

Cologne, March 28, 2023 - (updated: March 28, 2023, 1:03 p.m.)

Critical observer of society

The German writer Jürgen Becker has been awarded the Georg Büchner Prize 2023. The renowned literary award is presented annually by the German Academy for Language and Literature and is considered one of the most important literary prizes in the German-speaking world.

Becker is one of the most important contemporary German-language authors. He has written novels, short stories, essays, and radio plays. His work is characterized by a critical examination of society and a precise, poetic language.

The jury praised Becker as a "critical observer of society" and a "master of language". His work is "a reflection of our time, a seismograph of social and political developments".

Becker was born in Cologne in 1932. He studied German and philosophy in Cologne and Vienna. Since the 1960s he has been living as a freelance writer in Cologne.

Becker has received numerous awards for his work, including the Heinrich Böll Prize, the Thomas Mann Prize, and the Schiller Prize.

The Georg Büchner Prize is awarded annually to a German-language writer for his or her outstanding literary achievements. The prize is named after the German writer Georg Büchner (1813-1837), who is considered one of the most important writers of the 19th century.