Emma Braslavsky receives the Thuringian Literature Prize 2025 for her work!

Emma Braslavsky receives the Thuringian Literature Prize 2025 for her work!

On September 5, 2025, the widely respected author Emma Braslavsky will be awarded the Thuringian Literature Prize. This is an honor that not only represents her talent, but also her close connection to Thuringia. The prize is valued twice as much because it is awarded every two years and comes with a proud prize money of 12,000 euros. Thuringia's Minister of Culture Christian Tischner expressed his joy about the award and emphasized the importance of Braslavsky's literary contribution, which deals with current challenges in our society, including loss of homeland, climate change and artificial intelligence.

The Thuringian Literature Prize has been supported by various institutions since its founding, including the Free State of Thuringia and the Sparkasse Cultural Foundation of Hesse-Thuringia. The jury that handed down the verdict consisted of Dr. Johanna Bohley, Bettina Baltschev and Christoph Schmitz-Scholemann, and unanimously decided on Braslavsky as the winner on May 13, 2025.

Literary work

Emma Braslavsky, born in Erfurt in 1971, is described as a “literary child” of Thuringia. Her love for the region and her origins is reflected in her debut novel “Out of Sense” (2007), which deals with a Sudeten German refugee family in the GDR. These themes are not only part of her past, but also the cornerstone of her work. Her works are characterized by a certain lightness with which she deals with even serious topics.

In her latest novel, “Erdling” (2023), she unfolds an exciting story about time travel and human relationships with artificial intelligence. Robots also appear as central characters in her dystopian stories, such as in “The night was pale, the lights flashed” (2019), which underlines the innovative spirit of her literature. Her short story “I am your person” even found its way to the big screen and inspired an Oscar-nominated film.

A look into the author's life

Emma Braslavsky's life is as varied as her works. After fleeing the GDR in the summer of 1989, she lived in several cities, including Munich, Rome and Paris, and studied at Humboldt University, where she also met her husband Noam Braslavsky. She earned her academic spurs through semesters abroad in Moscow, Ho Chi Minh City and Tel Aviv. Today she lives in Berlin, where she works as a writer, curator and mother of an adult daughter.

With her narrative style and ability to treat serious topics with humor and irony, Braslavsky manages to captivate readers and make them think. She herself describes writing and dealing with these topics as her life's need.

The upcoming award ceremony on September 5th at Kultur: Haus Dacheröden in Erfurt promises to be a festive occasion for all literature enthusiasts. It remains exciting to see what new literary paths Emma Braslavsky will take in the future.

For more information on this topic, see the articles from MDR, Suhrkamp and Education Thuringia recommended.