Abbas Khider: Literary breakthrough with Berlin Literature Prize!

Abbas Khider: Literary breakthrough with Berlin Literature Prize!

Abbas Khider, an outstanding writer with roots in Iraq, was awarded the Berlin Literature Prize of the Prussian Sea Dealing Foundation in March 2025. This prestigious award not only comes with prize money of 30,000 euros, but also includes a visiting professorship for German-language poetics at the Peter Szondi Institute at the Free University of Berlin. The jury particularly praised Khider for portraying Germany from the perspective of an author who was shaped by imprisonment, flight and asylum, which makes his works all the more powerful. The prize has been awarded annually since 1989 and has an illustrious list of winners, including Herta Müller and Durs Grünbein.

On Tuesday, May 13th, Khider will give an inaugural public lecture entitled “Between Life and Writing – The Mystery of the Intermediates” at 6 p.m. This event offers those interested the opportunity to learn more about his perspectives and literary sources of inspiration. The Berlin Literature Prize is one of the most important awards that authors can receive for their contribution to contemporary German-language literature and highlights Germany's literary heritage and cultural diversity.

Life of a writer

Abbas Khider was born in Baghdad in 1973 and experienced the brutal effects of political persecution at the age of 19 when he was arrested for his activities. He fled Iraq in 1996 and lived in various countries for several years before coming to Germany in 2000. In Germany he continued his studies of literature and philosophy at universities in Munich and Potsdam.

Khider made his literary debut in 2008 with the novel “The Wrong Indian”. This quickly became the starting point of a successful career, which was continued with further works such as “The President's Oranges” (2011), “Letter to the Aubergine Republic” (2013) and many others. His most recent publications include “Ohrfeige” (2016), “Deutsch für alle” (2019), “Palace of the Miserables” (2020) and “The Remembrance Forger” (2022), all of which were published by Hanser-Verlag.

In addition to being recognized for his novels, Khider has received several major awards, including the Nelly Sachs Prize, the Hilde Domin Prize and the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize. In 2017 he was even the town clerk of Mainz, which further consolidated his influence in the German literary landscape.

The Berlin Literature Prize and its meaning

The Berlin Literature Prize is more than just an award. It serves to honor authors whose works make significant contributions to the literary landscape. The selection and honoring of the prize winners is intended to increase awareness of the cultural challenges and achievements in German literature.

The Prussian Sea Dealing Foundation, which awards this prize, is responsible, among other things, for protecting personal rights. It processes personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ensures that this data is handled responsibly. These aspects are important to promote trust in cultural institutions and to ensure transparency in the literary world stiftung-seehandlung.de.

In the future, both the gift of the Berlin Literature Prize and Khider's upcoming inaugural lecture will hopefully inspire many people and shed light on the themes that shape his literature.