The German writer Martina Hefter.
With “Hey good morning, how are you?” Hefter has created a special novel that is profound and light-hearted at the same time. The Leipzig native has now been honored for this.
According to the jury’s statement, Hefter’s novel is a cleverly choreographed book that “exercises its own unique appeal.” “In a fascinating way, the novel combines grueling everyday life with mythological figures and cosmic dimensions; it navigates between melancholy and euphoria, reflects on trust and deception.” The two books by the Swiss Doris Wirth (“Find me”) and Zora del Buono (“Because of Him”), which were still on the longlist, did not make it onto the shortlist.
Image: pd
Who is cheating on whom here?
The winner, 59-year-old Martina Hefter, lives in Leipzig. She is not only an author, but also a dancer and performance artist, like her novel’s protagonist. In “Hey good morning, how are you?” Juno, who is in her mid-fifties, lives in two worlds: during the day she cares for her seriously ill husband, and at night she dives into the Internet.
There she chats with so-called love scammers: These are internet fraudsters who use fake profiles to contact people looking for love and want to exploit them financially. Juno gets involved with love scammers from Nigeria, but she hides her true identity and at some point you wonder who is cheating on whom. And then moments of true closeness arise.
And the novel is also about aging, colonialism, longings, friendship and love. Hefter talks about these big topics laconically and tenderly.
Book prize awarded for the 20th time
The German Book Prize is considered one of the most important awards in the industry and was awarded for the 20th time on Monday. The seven-member jury reviewed a total of 197 novels from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Image: Christof Jakob
The six finalists included Maren Kames (“Hasenprose”), Clemens Meyer (“The Projectors”), Ronya Othmann (“Seventy-Four”), Markus Thielemann (“Thunder Rolls From the North”) and Iris Wolff (“Lichtungen”). .
The book prize is awarded by the Book Culture and Reading Promotion Foundation of the German Book Trade Association. It is endowed with a total of 37,500 euros: the winner receives 25,000 euros, the other authors on the shortlist each receive 2,500 euros. Last year, the Austrian Tonio Schachinger won with his novel “Real Age”.
