Deutscher Buchpreis 2024 goes to Martina Hefter
On 14th October the jury crowned Martina Hefter winner of the prestigious Deutscher Buchpreis 2024 with her novel Hey Guten Morgen, wie geht es dir? (Hey Good Morning, How Are You?), published by Klett-Cotta.
The book will be published in Italy by Feltrinelli Gramma. 
According to the jury:
The protagonist in Martina Hefter’s Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir? is in her mid-50s, leading a precarious life as a performance artist in Leipzig while caring for her husband, who has MS. On sleepless nights, she chats with a Nigerian lovescammer who’s after her money. Yet the question arises as to who is exploiting whom here – and what happens when, contrary to expectations, the boundaries between digital games and real affection become blurred. Navigating between melancholy and euphoria, and reflecting on trust and deception, the novel combines gruelling everyday life with mythological figures and cosmic dimensions in a fascinating way. Martina Hefter writes about all this in her intelligently choreographed novel, which exerts an attraction of its very own.
The award ceremony took place in the prestigious Keisersaal of the Römer in Frankfurt. Each of the other finalists received an award of 2,500 Euros, while the first prize was endowed with 25,000 Euros.
2024 has been a very promising year for Martina Hefter: "Hey Guten Morgen, wie geht es dir?" also won the Grand Prize of The German Literature Fund 2024, the Literary Prize Of the State Capital Wiesbaden 2024 and was nominated for the Bavarian Book Prize 2024.
