Leipzig Bookfair Prize 2021
The winners of this year’s Leipzig Bookfair Prize have been announced!
Heike Behrend and her Menschwerdung eines Affen. Eine Autobiografie der ethnografischen Forschung (Incarnation of an Ape, Matthes &Seitz) was awarded the non-fiction prize. Italian rights are still available.
Heike Behrend’s autobiography concerns everything usually discarded by ethnographic research reportages: cultural misunderstandings, unheroic involvements and situations of failure - between postcolonial discourse and the migration debate.
This is how the Jury motivate their choice: "the central motif of Behrend’s work is the idea that only those who are open to the world will also be able to know their origins and their homeland. The author observes the reality around her and allows herself to be observed by others. Thus, she gains a new perspective both on other cultures and on her own. Her book is a delightful and valuable read, broadening our horizons. Menschwerdung tells the story of what humanity is made of: the overcoming of prejudices – a bright book in a dark historical moment."
