Kurt Tallert wins Uwe-Johnson Prize for moving debut work!

Kurt Tallert wins Uwe-Johnson Prize for moving debut work!

The Uwe-Johnson promotion award 2025 goes to the creative head Kurt Tallert, who is already known as a DJ, rapper and producer and is now drawing attention to himself with his first novel "Trace and Abay" as an author. "Trace and absurd" deals in an impressive way with the relationship with his father, who was in custody in 1944 as a half -year and died in 1997 when Kurt was only 12 years old. In his story, Talert fills the empty spaces of the past and addresses how his father's experiences shaped his own life, reports the Tagesschau .

The jury of the promotional award was based on the award with the special narrative style Tallert's, which urgently traces the trauma pregnant events in its family history. His father Harry Tallert, born in 1927, was not only a survivor of discrimination against the Nazis, but also lived an eventful life as a SPD member of the Bundestag in the 1960s, where he vehemently campaigned against the return of former Nazis. Kurt reconstructs his father's experiences based on diary records and letters, which creates a fascinating link between personal discussion and historical analysis, complements the Nordkurier .

a debut with explosiveness

Kurt Tallert, who was born in 1986 as the youngest of four children, describes in his book the tornness of his relationship to the Jewish identity and the associated trauma of his father. His debut is remarkable because it does not fit into the common Romangenres-a special feature for which the Uwe-Johnson promotional award, which has been awarded every two years since 2005 and has been endowed with 5,000 euros, is now awarded for the first time. The official award ceremony will take place in Neubrandenburg as part of the Johnson days on September 26, where Talert will accept its price, as the Uwe Johnson-Website informed.

"Trace and About" published in the renowned Dumont Buchverlag, consists of 240 pages and is a deep reflection on the effects of the past on the present. The passages that contain a letter to his great -grandmother, which was murdered in Auschwitz, are particularly moving. This personal examination of his family history runs through Talert's entire artistic work and gives it a unique voice in the current literary scene.

anticipation for the Johnson Days 2024

The Johnson Days 2024, which will take place from September 16 to November 14, promise a varied program with readings and discussions in which numerous authors and award winners will have their say. The sponsorship award is thus also placed in the context of a broader discussion about literature and society, and underlines the relevance of artistic disputes with the past and identity in today's world. So Talert is not alone - literary life in Germany remains alive and challenging.