‘Cutting’ is what she does best: Christine Wunnicke wins Germany’s top literary prize worth €50,000

Christine Wunnicke (right) receives the 2026 Georg Büchner Prize from Ingo Schulze, president of the German Academy for Language and Literature, in Darmstadt on October 24. The prize carries €50,000 (RM229,000). — dpa pic

First Published: Sunday, 25 Oct 2026 5:45 PM MYT

DARMSTADT (Germany), Oct 25 — Author Christine Wunnicke has been awarded the 2026 Georg Buchner Prize, one of the most prestigious literary honours in the country, at a ceremony in Darmstadt, in western Germany, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

“Thank you very much for the wonderful Buchner Prize.

“I’m still stunned,” Wunnicke said at the city’s State Theatre on Saturday evening.

Established in 1951, the prize carries €50,000 (US$56,000, RM229,000) in prize money.

“What I enjoy doing most when writing, and what I’m best at, is cutting,” Wunnicke said in her acceptance speech, explaining why her books had become increasingly short.

She said she had even cut her acceptance speech down to a single sentence.

In the end, however, she chose to read Buchner’s work and take the train instead.

“I often read on public transport because I can concentrate so well there,” she said, before recounting her observations of people and her surroundings.

The German Academy for Language and Literature, which awards the prize, praised Wunnicke for her consistently surprising and masterfully crafted narratives.

The jury said her work revealed fictional elements in seemingly historical settings, offering fresh perspectives on Europe’s scientific and colonial history.

The award is named after dramatist and revolutionary Georg Buchner, best known for his plays Woyzeck and Danton’s Death.

Born in 1813 in what was then the Grand Duchy of Hesse, he died in Zurich in 1837.

Two other prizes were also presented at the ceremony.

Historian of science Anke te Heesen received the Sigmund Freud Prize, while author and literary critic Helmut Bottiger won the Johann Heinrich Merck Prize.

Each carries €20,000 (RM91,700) in prize money. — Bernama-dpa

Christine Wunnicke wins Germany’s top literary prize, and she’s “still stunned”

Author who loves cutting trims her Buchner Prize speech to one sentence

Wunnicke takes the Buchner Prize, then reads Buchner on the train

“Cutting” is what she does best: Wunnicke honoured with €50,000 literary prize