Kim de l'Horizon wins German Book Prize 2022!
We are happy to announce that Kim de L'Horizon has been awarded this year's German Book Prize for the novel Blutbuch (Dumont)!
From the jury's statement:
With tremendous creative energy, the non-binary narrator of Kim de l’Horizon’s novel ‘Blutbuch’ (‘Blood Book’) searches for a language of their own. What narratives exist for a body that eludes conventional notions of gender?
The fixed point of the narrative is Kim’s own grandmother – ‘Großmeer’ (literally ‘great sea’) in Bernese German – in whose ocean Kim risked drowning as a child and which they now swim free of through writing.
The form of the novel is in constant motion. Every linguistic attempt, from vivid scenes to passages of essay-like memoir, reveals an urgency and literary innovation that challenged and inspired the jury.
The author dedicated the award to "all people who are oppressed because of their bodies", and shaved their head in solidarity with Iranian women.
Italian rights to Blutbuch have been pre-empted by Il Saggiatore.
