Adania Shibli Wins Germany’s 2023 LiBeraturpreis for ‘Minor Detail’

JULY 26, 2023 — Palestinian author Adania Shibli has won the 2023 LiBeraturpreis for the German translation of her novel تفصيل ثانوي (Minor Detail) translated from Arabic into German as »Eine Nebensache«, or  by Günther Orth.

The winner of the 3000-euro LiBeraturpreis — sponsored by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art and the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain — was selected by a five-person jury. This year’s jury was made up of Marlen Heislitz (Büchergilde Gutenberg), Peter Ripken (former journalist and development worker, former director of Litprom e.V.), Sabine Speiser (development policy consultant), Antonia Stock (bookseller) and  Raffael Weger (independent literary scholar).

Thirteen authors were longlisted, recommended on the Litprom’s Best of-list Weltempfänger. From this longlist, the jury selected a 6-book shortlist, which were presented on June 14 at the Haus am Dom in Frankfurt.

The jury, while praising  Günther Orth’s  translation, also noted:

“In Eine Nebensache, the Palestinian author Adania Shibli creates a formally and linguistically rigorously composed work of art that tells of the power of borders and what violent conflicts do to and with people. With great alertness, she directs her gaze to the small details, the trivialities that allow us to glimpse the old wounds and scars that lie behind the surface.”

The award ceremony is set to take place mid-October.