Barbi Marković won the Leipzig Book Fair prize in the fiction category on Thursday with an experimental horror comic novel, "Minihorror," that describes the everyday life of its protagonists Mini and Miki in a Mickey Mouse comic style.
The author, who was born in Belgrade in 1980, was honoured for "her enchantingly funny and bitterly serious story about our present day, with people in late capitalism inevitably becoming the butt of jokes," said jury member Shirin Sojitrawalla at the award ceremony.
In her acceptance speech, which Marković said she wrote in the cafeteria shortly before the award was announced, she told a horror story in which Mini chokes and dies on stage.
The fiction prizewinner studied German literature and has lived in Vienna since 2006. Her book was published by Residenz Verlag.
The Berlin art historian Tom Holert was honoured in the non-fiction/essay category for his book ""ca. 1972" Violence - Environment - Identity - Method, " focuses on the period after the student revolutionary times of 1968.
In the translation category, Ki-Hyang Lee won for her translation of "The Curse of the Hare" by Bora Chung from Korean. The Book Fair awarded the prize for the 20th time this year. According to the organizers, 486 new publications from 177 publishers were submitted and viewed by a seven-member jury.
On Thursday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's speech at the book fair was interrupted several times by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Seven activists called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and accused Israel of genocide.
Steinmeier addressed the interruptions several times. "You have left your message, we do not agree, but we have heard you," Steinmeier said. The seven activists were led out of the Alte Börse by security guards.
The day before, the speech by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the opening of the Book Fair was interrupted several times by activists. who shouted largely unintelligble comments at the German leader. Several witnesses said the activists accused the Israeli government of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Large parts of the protest were drowned out by prolonged applause from the audience.
"The power of the word brings us all together here in Leipzig - not shouting," said Scholz, accompanied by applause.
Both on Wednesday and Thursday the protestors were escorted out of the hall.
Around 100 events are planned until Sunday, with 2,085 exhibitors from 40 countries presenting their books and new publications. The exhibition centre has also hosted the Manga Comic Con for the past 10 years and the Antiquarian Book Fair for the past 30 years.
The reading festival "Leipzig reads" also attracts visitors with 2,800 events at 300 locations throughout the city. This year's fair is the first under the leadership of new director Astrid Böhmisch. Last year, the long-standing director of the fair, Oliver Zille, retired unexpectedly.
The Netherlands and the neighbouring Belgian region of Flanders are presenting their common linguistic and cultural area as joint guest "country," under the motto "everything but flat."
At the opening ceremony on Wednesday night, the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding 2024 was awarded to the German-Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm.
