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Frankfurt Young Stories 2021

Writing contest for young talents: win 500 euros and participation in an amazing writing workshop.

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  • Creative & innovative storytelling formats
  • Prize money of 500 euros
  • Invitation to a group writing workshop
  • Participate in the awards ceremony at #fbm21

Creative expression of stories and poems

Five winners will receive prize money of 500 euros each, as well as participation in a writing/storytelling workshop led by the contest ambassadors on Sunday during Frankfurter Buchmesse. The winners will also be invited to present their works at the award ceremony, which will take place at Frankfurter Buchmesse on Saturday, 23 October 2021, and will also be broadcast online.

Meet the jury

They select this year's winners in the 13-17 and 18-22 age groups with one prize each awarded for short story and poetry; formats that go beyond written text will be judged in a separate cross-genre and cross-age category.

The contest’s ambassadors

Ronya Othmann, born in Munich in 1993, is an author and journalist. She is studying at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig.

Ronya Othmann, born in Munich in 1993, is an author and journalist. She is studying at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig.

Her debut novel “Die Sommer” (The Summer) was published by Hanser in 2020 and won the Mara Cassens Prize. In October her poetry book “Die Verbrechen” (The Crimes) was released. She writes the column “Import Export” for the weekly newspaper F.A.S. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung).

Joshua Groß

Joshua Groß, born 1989 in Grünsberg, lives in Braunschweig. He studied Political Science, Economics and Ethics of Text Cultures in Erlangen.

Joshua Groß, born 1989 in Grünsberg, lives in Braunschweig. He studied Political Science, Economics and Ethics of Text Cultures in Erlangen.

From 2014 to 2019, he was a research associate at the Institute of Modern Art Nuremberg. He has published several books, including “Faunenschnitt” (Faun Cut, 2016), “Flauschkontraste” (Fleece Contrasts, 2017), “Flexen in Miami” (Flexing in Miami, 2020) and “Entkommen” (Escape, 2021). He co-edited the anthology “Mindstate Malibu” (2018) and Etel Adnan's “Wir wurden kosmisch” (We Became Cosmic, 2019). He was awarded the 2018 Free State of Bavaria Work Scholarship, the 2018 Roger Willemsen Foundation Residency Scholarship, the 2019 Anna Seghers Prize, the 2021 A und A Kulturstiftung Literature Prize, and the 2021 Hölderlin Prize, among others.