At a Glance

• A novelist from Eastern Kurdistan has won a major German literary award.

• Her novel was chosen from more than 200 nominated works.

• The prize is among Germany's most prestigious literary honors.

Shida Bazyar, originally from Abdanan in Ilam Province, Eastern Kurdistan, has won the 2026 German Book Prize for her novel "Die Lücken" (The Gaps), selected as the year's best book written in German.

Key Statements and Focus Area

• On the Selection: Bazyar's novel was chosen from an initial pool of 205 nominated works and praised by the judges as this year's winner. — German Book Prize jury.

• On the Novel's Themes: The book explores the history of Nazism and the Holocaust alongside the lives of contemporary immigrants. — Report on the novel.

• Focus Area: Bazyar's win and what her novel says about memory, displacement, and identity.

"Die Lücken" follows several generations in a fictional German village across a span of 90 years.

For Kurdish readers, its themes of oppression, displacement, and systemic attempts to erase identity and language echo their own history.

The prize, established in 2005 and awarded by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels), comes with a cash award of €25,000.

FYI

The German Book Prize aims to select the best novel of the year and promote contemporary German-language literature.

Authors of diverse backgrounds and origins are eligible, and the award is often compared to the Booker Prize in international literature.

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