Martina Hefter wins 2024 German Book Prize for 'fascinating' novel

Martina Hefter's novel "Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir?" ("Hey, Good Morning, How Are You?") won the 2024 German Book Prize on Monday.

The jury praised the book as a cleverly choreographed work with "a very unique attraction."

"In a fascinating way, the novel combines gruelling everyday life with mythological figures and cosmic dimensions, navigating between melancholy and euphoria, reflecting on trust and deception."

The 59-year-old author lives in Leipzig. She is not only an author, but also a dancer and performance artist, just like the protagonist of her novel.

A novel of two worlds

That character, a woman in her mid-50s called Juno, lives in two worlds. During the day she takes care of her seriously ill husband, at night she dives into the internet.

There she chats with so-called love scammers, that is internet fraudsters who use fake profiles to make contact with love-seekers with the aim of exploiting them financially.

Juno gets involved with scammers from Nigeria, but hides her true identity, and at some point it is unclear who is betraying whom.

The novel is also about ageing, colonialism, desires, friendship and love.

Prize bestowed for the 20th time

The German Book Prize is considered one of the most important awards in the industry and was presented for the 20th time on Monday. The seven-member jury reviewed a total of 197 novels from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Hefter was one of six finalists.

The book prize is endowed with a total of €37,500 ($41,000). The winner receives €25,000, with the other authors on the shortlist each receiving €2,500.

Authors Maren Kames, Clemens Meyer, Ronya Othmann, Markus Thielemann and Iris Wolff were also on the shortlist.

Last year's winner was Austrian author Tonio Schachinger with his coming-of-age novel "Echtzeitalter" ("Real Age").