Alfred Döblin Prize
Endowed by Günter Grass in 1979, the Alfred Döblin Prize for an unpublished epic literary work is awarded every two years by the Akademie der Künste and the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin for a “long prose manuscript of a work in progress”. The prize commemorates Alfred Döblin, one of the most versatile German writers of modern times. The S. Fischer Verlag supports the Alfred Döblin Prize.
An independent three-member jury nominates six authors from the applications to present their texts in public workshop readings at the Literary Colloquium and to engage in debate. Directly following the competition, the jurors select the winner. The prize is awarded the next day during a festive matinee at the Akademie der Künste.
The prize is endowed with 15,000 euros.
Application
A minimum of fifty pages of previously unpublished prose text is to be submitted. An exposé on the project and curriculum vitae with a biography are also expected.
Award Recipients
2025
Sophia Merwald
Award Recipients since 1979
2025
Sophia Merwald
2023
Jan Kuhlbrodt
2021
Deniz Utlu
2019
Ulrich Woelk
2017
María Cecilia Barbetta
2015
Natascha Wodin
2013
Saša Stanišić
2011
Jan Peter Bremer
2009
Eugen Ruge
2007
Michael Kumpfmüller
2005
Jan Faktor
2003
Kathrin Groß-Striffler
2001
Josef Winkler
Sponsorship Award: Heike Geißler
1999
Norbert Gstrein
1997
Ingomar von Kieseritzky, Michael Wildenhain
1995
Katja Lange-Müller
Sponsorship Award: Ingo Schulze
1993
Reinhard Jirgl
Sponsorship Award: Andreas Neumeister
1991
Peter Kurzeck
Sponsorship Award: Norbert Bleisch
1989
Edgar Hilsenrath, Einar Schleef
1987
Libuse Moníková
1985
Stefan Schütz
1983
Gerhard Roth
1982
Gert Hofmann
1980
Klaus Hoffer
1979
Gerold Späth
Residency Scholarship
In addition, the Alfred Döblin Prize Foundation awards a scholarship for a residency at the Alfred Döblin House in Wewelsfleth, Schleswig-Holstein, which Günter Grass gave to the federal state of Berlin specifically to support and promote writers. The Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion provides the scholarship funds for the Alfred Döblin Prize Foundation.