Redshirts Nominated for the Kurd Laßwitz Preis
Posted on April 1, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 14 Comments
This is excellent news: Redshirts has been nominated for the Kurd Laßwitz Preis this year, in the category of Best Foreign Novel. The Kurd Laßwitz Preis is arguably the German language’s highest science fiction award, so getting a nod for it always makes me a very happy author (winning is nice, too; I won one a couple of years ago from the German translation of The Android’s Dream).
The books and authors in the category this year are at this link, but for those of you who don’t want to bother, here’s the list (borrowed from here):
- Kevin J. Anderson und Doug Beason, Trinity (The Trinity-Paradox)
- Paolo Bacigalupi, Schiffsdiebe (Ship Breaker)
- David Brin, Existenz (Existence)
- Ted Chiang, Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes (Short story collection)
- Peter Dehmel (Ed.): Die Erde und die Außerirdischen (Short story collection)
- Ian McDonald, Cyberabad (River of Gods)
- China Miéville, Stadt der Fremden (Embassytown)
- John Scalzi, Redshirts (Redshirts)
- Robert Charles Wilson, Vortex (Vortex) (Spin-Trilogie, Band 3)
My very bad German tells me the winner will be announced in November, but that’s fine, as this is good company to keep in the meantime. I would also like to take a moment to thank my translator Bernhard Kempen, who clearly continues to do an excellent job of making me comprehensible to my German readers. Danke, Bernhard!
And congratulations to my fellow nominees!
What would interest me is how many english books you sell in german-speaking countrys versus how many german translations you sell. Myself I read most anglophone Books in the original.
P.S.: Kempen also translates among others Terry Pratchett and wrote for, surprise, Perry Rhodan.
The first link says winners will be announced on the website in June and prizes be awarded in November. Congratulations for the nomination!
HGlückwünsche!
I’m channeling my Papa Al via Google. But it was a great book.
the website is a little bit old fashioned for a scifi award. ;-D
anyway, panda is right, the announcement is in june and the price will be awarded at the PentaCons in Dresden,09. November.
John, you should avoid making serious announcements like this on a particular day in early April. Especially if the award is in a foreign language. I saw your post in my email, looked at the German banner with its “weird” characters and thought, “Oh, he’s at it again.”
You have to admit, the Kurd LaBwitz Preis does sound like something you might have made up…
Beej:
Meh. It’s late enough in the day.
You sure nobody’s pulling your leg? For a German SF award, I’m not seeing many spaceships firing lasers.
Ausgezeichnet! Glückwünsche! (Which is about all I can remember of my college German.)
Well, Kurd himself decided on the layout back then … Fun fact (for a rather special minority): the WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk ~ Public Radio NRW) logo down there at Hörspiel ‘radio drama’ is from the early 90s at best. Sweet memories :)
Not really a fun fact: the texts I checked on the website are single images … not so nice in that font, but worse for accessibility, and translation and searchability, of course.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch und viel Glück! Heute Deutschland, morgen die ganze Welt
and thanks to Grossvater for the lessons
You won for Android’s Dream? The Germans do seem to love a good fart joke don’t they?
Where’s the ladies at?
John, way to go!