rbbKultur und Literaturhaus Berlin vergeben Walter-Serner-Preis 2023 an Kenan Kokic

Berlin (ots)

The Walter-Serner Prize, awarded by rbbKultur and Literaturhaus Berlin, goes this year to Kenan Kokic for his story “Gegen Ende hin.” He receives a prize money of 5,000 euros.

“Gegen Ende hin”

In his short story “Gegen Ende hin,” Kenan Kokic tells of a visit by an adult child to their seriously ill, old father. Their relationship is marked by speechlessness: “He does not speak my language, the local one, I speak his badly, understand only, read only, do not speak, never speak.” In the hope of overcoming the silence with the help of a robot, the encounter is started with a laptop, but the machine can only help to a limited extent.

“Gegen Ende hin” convinces the jury as a poignant and artfully told snapshot about migration and machines, speaking and silence.

About the Author

Kenan Kokic, born in 1998, is a trained software developer and has been studying language art at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna since autumn 2023. In 1995, his family, who had fled the wars in former Yugoslavia, settled in Southern Styria. He has been writing short stories for several years and is now working on his novel debut. In 2022, he received the main prize of the Exile Literature Prizes, and in 2023, he was the winner of the 31st Open Mike competition.

For the Walter-Serner Prize 2023, 334 valid applications were received. This year’s search was for unpublished short stories that deal with the advantages and disadvantages of AI.

rbbKultur and Literaturhaus Berlin award the prize, endowed with 5,000 euros, annually. The guest juror for 2023 is author Juan S. Guse, who will also give the laudation to the prize winner. The jury also included Sonja Longolius and Janika Gelinek, the directors of Literaturhaus, as well as Nadine Kreuzahler and Anne-Dore Krohn (rbbKultur).

The Award Ceremony Live on rbbKultur

The prize will be awarded on December 5, 2023, at 19:00 at Literaturhaus Berlin. The event will be broadcast live on rbbKultur radio. Tickets for the ceremony are available on the homepage of Literaturhaus Berlin for 8 euros, reduced 5 euros, with the Berlin-Ticket S 3 euros.

Walter Serner was born in 1889 in Karlsbad and lived in Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich. He wrote, among other things, “Letzte Lockerung. Ein Handbrevier für Hochstapler” and “Die Tigerin”. In 1942, he was deported from Prague to Theresienstadt and from there to the Bikernieki forest near Riga, where he and his wife Dorothea were murdered on August 23, 1942. The Walter-Serner Prize for short stories is intended to commemorate his life and work. It has existed since the mid-1970s. Since 1996, the prize has been endowed and is jointly announced and awarded by rbbKultur and Literaturhaus Berlin.