The jury’s statement (Philipp Blom; Niklas Fischer; Christian Seiler; Catrin Stövesand) states: “An extremely controversial spirit, certainly not a particularly sociable person, that Susanne Falk chose for her biography. What makes us curious about this book is the author’s approach, which, in contrast to her protagonist, does not polarize. She traces a person who sought controversy throughout his life, who cultivated a culture of debate, often certainly beyond a healthy level. The author maintains her distance, on the one hand she highlights Habe’s courage and honors his achievements, but on the other hand she does not put him on a pedestal, but also expresses her dismay at Habe’s behavior and thinking in a very subjective narrative style. We imagine it would be very exciting to trace an unusual life in this way.”
Susanne Falk (born 1976 in Schleswig-Holstein) studied German, English, political science and journalism at the universities of Rostock and Vienna, where she has lived since 1999. She has been working as a freelance author since 2009, writing novels, stories and plays, including the drama “Békessy” about Hans Habe’s father Imre Békessy (https://susannefalk.net/).
The Molden Nonfiction Scholarship for Biographical Writing is published by Molden Verlag (https://www.styriabooks.at/verlage/molden/) will be awarded biennially from 2024 in cooperation with the daily newspaper “Die Presse” and is endowed with 10,000 euros. This scholarship was initiated on the occasion of the publisher’s 60th anniversary.
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