Iranian translator Mahshid Mir-Moezi wins Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis ‎

Established in 1964, for 25 years the prize was exclusively given to linguists and literary scholars at foreign universities. However, it has also been awarded to persons outside of academia who are committed to imparting German culture and cultural dialog

The Friedrich Gundolf Prize is awarded annually at the spring conference of the German Academy. It has been endowed with €20,000 since 2013.

The German Academy for Language and Literature emerged out of a multi-year discussion process in the literary world: as a place of open debate after the years of dictatorship. The idea of a »German Academy« had already been formulated by Rudolf Leonhard at the first all-German writers’ conference that took place in Berlin in October 1947.

The members of the academy include renowned writers, critics, and translators as well as linguists and literary scholars, but also jurists and scientists whose work is characterized by a particular interest in language.

The Academy’s members, around 180 in total, are not only from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, but also many other countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Academy views its primary aims as the following:

-Attentively following the development of language in conjunction with the competence of linguists, literature and literary criticism.
-Initiating dialogue about neglected or marginalized literature through publishing.
-Discussing literary, linguistic and culturally critical topics in cooperation with European academies of literature and related institutions in Germany.
-Supporting the free exchange of opinions in speech and writing and contributing to a differentiated culture of debate.

The awards given by the academy include:

Georg-Büchner-Preis
Sigmund-Freud-Preis
Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis
Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Preis
Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis