Dear All

We’re very pleased to update you with the news that the new “Kirsten Boie Prize for Children's Literature” has been awarded to Julia Blesken for her children's book manuscript "On the way to Kolomoro".

The Kirsten Boie Prize for Children's Literature is endowed with 5,000 euros and is awarded by the Hamburg Literature Foundation in cooperation with the Literaturhaus Hamburg and the Hamburg children's and youth book publishers Carlsen and Oetinger. In addition to the prize money, Julia Blesken receives a publishing contract from Friedrich Oetinger Verlag. The book will appear in the Oetinger program in 2021.

From the jury statement for Julia Blesken: "A road trip through a city that is gradually taking shape and constantly flashing new facets, five children who are suddenly six and could hardly be more different. There is always a direction in the wrong direction: The girl Jennifer had promised her grandfather to scatter his ashes where he felt most comfortable in life, in his garden colony. The author Julia Blesken lovingly designs her characters and then releases them into life, to see how they get on with it - a literary process that works best. "

Julia Blesken, born in Berlin in 1976, studied history. In 2009 her debut novel "Ich bin den Rudel Wölfe" was published by Jung und Jung.

The Bonn author Rebecca Elbs receives the foundation's other prize, the Sponsorship award for her text "Leo & Lucy". It is linked to a proofreading grant that includes professional proofreading of the submitted text worth 1,000 euros. Rebecca Elbs, born in 1975, grew up on Lake Constance. After several stays abroad, theatre work and a degree in directing, she worked for many years as a teacher for German and English.

The Kirsten Boie Prize jury, consisting of the critic and author Ute Wegmann and the critic and author Tilman Spreckelsen, the author and lecturer Annette Pehnt, the bookseller Christiane Hoffmeister and the former children's book publisher Klaus Humann, chose the winning titles from over 650 entries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Klaus Humann says: "The unexpectedly large number of manuscripts presented us with major challenges. But in the end, we all agreed and were able to choose the two award winners very clearly."

Kirsten Boie adds: "I am delighted with the decision of the jury. It is a convincing manuscript: weird and yet realistic; entertaining but with substance; professionally told with lovingly drawn characters and funny dialogues."

Julia Bielenberg, Oetinger publisher, says: "We are proud and pleased that we are able to publish the first children's book to be awarded the Kirsten Boie Prize for Children's Literature. The award bears the name of one of the most renowned German-language children's book authors, whose Books are an elementary part of the Oetinger program and we are closely connected to them. The excellent books should, in the spirit of Kirsten Boies, awaken the fun of reading. Because that is the best way to promote reading. "