Luxembourg Book Prize Un livre sur le colonialisme récompensé – Le choix de l’audace

In 2023, the presentation of the “Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis” was an opportunity for the outgoing Minister of Culture, Sam Tanson, to receive a standing ovation. Eric Thill was appointed the next day and was seen the following Sunday at the fair, wasting no time in making his face known to the world of culture, he whose appointment had just surprised everyone. This year, it was he who gave a speech for the 19th edition of these prizes created in 2006, at the instigation of the Federation of Luxembourg Publishers. He underlined the interest of literature – and therefore of its state support – for the role it can play in a period of tension, namely “building bridges to span the gulf that separates culture from ideology”. .

It was quite a baptism of fire that the first winners of the evening had in store for him, in the thematic books/beautiful books category, the author, Yves Schmitz, and his co-publisher Richtung 22 (with capybarabooks) of „Luxemburg war nie eine Kolonialmacht“, a book which strives to deny its title, taken from a quote, by exploring Luxembourg’s colonial past. Yves Schmitz hoped that this prize could provide support for critical research. For her part, Michelle Lies from Richtung 22 recalled how the colonial past continues to shape our environment, citing as examples the name of the Prince Henri room, where the awards ceremony took place, named after a sovereign who took advantage of Dutch colonialism, the use of “N-Wort” in a report by RTL (which filmed the evening) or even the dismissal of the Iranian artist Alborz Teymoorzadeh whom she blamed on Eric Thill and his government.

Remember that any Luxembourg publisher can participate in the “Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis” with a maximum of twelve titles from their production, all categories combined. It is a jury, renewed each year and composed of five members from the book chain, which awards these prizes worth 1,000 euros in four categories. This year, it was made up of Florence Sunnen (author), Romy Hellinghausen (librarian at the National Literature Center), Joe Mathieu (bookseller at “Christina’s Bicherbuttik”), our sister Isabel Spigarelli and Henri Schoetter (graphic designer, designer, illustrator).

In the literature category, Margret Steckel won with „Mutterrache“. The modest size of this short story of 56 pages did not frighten the jury who had also placed on the shortlist the even less thick text by Antoine Pohu, “We are the ones who walk in the city” (both published by capybarabooks) . The jury thus took action, crowning a short format. The jury was enthusiastic about Margret Steckel’s ability to tell a life story in 56 pages, which never leaves us. The author arrives with little to say everything, explained our colleague, journalist from newspaperIsabel Spigarelli. She welcomed, on behalf of the jury, a story which breaks a taboo on the mother-daughter relationship, by telling the story of a broken relationship. This is the first time that the 90-year-old author, winner of the 1997 Servais Prize and the 2023 Batty Weber Prize, has won the “Buchpräis”. If for a young author, such a prize is an encouragement, a sign that we have chosen the right path, it gives, at her age, the strength to write again, she reacted, visibly moved.

In the children’s literature category, „Et rabbelt an der Broutgaass“, the story of twins Emma and George who want to make Saint-Nicolas forget their stupidities, won. The authors are Diane Orban and Myriam Karels. The duo had already won the „Buchpräis“ in the same category in 2020 as well as the public prize with „De Wëlle leeft am Bësch“ (Schortgen editions). The jury appreciated the interactivity of this book which also contains cooking and DIY exercises.

There was one category for which no shortlist had been established, that of design/graphics. The jury awards this prize to the book of its choice taken from the long list. „Wild Site“ published by Point Nemo Publishing, already winner of the „Award des Deutschen Architekturmuseums“ at the Buchmesse in Frankfurt, won.

A public prize was awarded this year in each category, while only one was usually awarded for all the books in the three categories and tended to always go towards the same type of work – and rarely for the category queen of literature. “We found it a shame that every year, a cookbook won,” joked the vice-president of the Federation of Luxembourg Publishers, Ian De Toffoli, before the winners were announced. The public had the same opinion as the jury for the thematic books and children’s literature. On the other hand, in the “Literature” category, “Béischten” by Jhemp Hoscheit won.

Readings from the winning books will be given during the two days of the „Bicherdeeg“ this weekend.