Leipzig, 18 February, 2021. The awarding of Erich Loest Prize 2021 by Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig to German author Ulrike Almut Sandig, originally planned for 24 February, has been postponed. "24 February would have been Erich Loest's 95th birthday. Unfortunately, an appropriate award ceremony is not possible under the current Corona conditions," said Stephan Seeger, Managing Director of Media Foundation.
"The Foundation's board is very reluctant to give up 24 February, precisely because it is not just any date. However, we agreed that a purely virtual event would neither do justice to the laureate nor to the work of the jury nor to Erich Loest himself. Hence the decision was made to postpone the award ceremony to September." Seeger continued. The exact date will be announced soon.
About the laureate:
Ulrike Almut Sandig (born in 1979 and raised in Nauwalde, Saxony) lives in Berlin together with her family. Sandig's works include the volumes of poetry "Zunder" ("Tinder", 2005) and "Streumen" ("Scatter", 2007), "Dickicht" (Thicket, 2011) and "Ich bin ein Feld voller Raps verstecke die Rehe und leuchte wie dreizehn Ölgemälde übereinandergelegt" ("I am a field full of rapeseed hide the deer and shine like thirteen oil paintings on top of each other", 2016) or the short stories "Flamingos" (2010) and "Buch gegen das Verschwinden" ("Book against Disappearance, 2015).
For her public musical appearances, she closely cooperates with composers and filmmakers. In 2020, her first novel "Monster wie wir" ("Monsters like us") was published, which is now being particularly honoured with the Erich Loest Prize. The novel addresses the life of children affected by sexual violence and their families during the last few years of East Germany.
About the award:
The award, which is endowed with 10,000 euros, is awarded every two years by Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig in memory of the German author Erich Loest. Loest was closely associated with the Sparkasse Leipzig Foundations throughout his life - as a founding member of Media Foundation and as a patron of the Culture and Environmental Foundation, to which he bequeathed his literary estate. The prize honours authors who not only describe the social and political conditions in Germany, but also help to shape the democratic discourse with their work. In addition, the award winners should be connected to Central Germany. Previous laureates were Guntram Vesper (2017) and Hans Joachim Schädlich (2019).