Charlotte Köhler Prize 2020 for Manon Uphoff

The Charlotte Köhler Prize, a triennial prize for writers of literary works, has been awarded this year to Manon Uphoff (1962). Uphoff receives the €15,000 prize for her entire oeuvre and in particular for the novel Vallen is als vliegen (2019), which is rooted in reality.

The jury consisted of literary scholar Sander Bax, literary critic at NRC Handelsblad Thomas de Veen and Mensje van Keulen, winner of the Charlotte Köhler Prize in 2011.

Rich and idiosyncratic oeuvre

The jury awarded the prize to Manon Uphoff following her novel Vallen is als vliegen. Thomas de Veen: "Uphoff is the author of a rich and idiosyncratic literary oeuvre, culminating in her most recent novel, in which she uses her full literary powers to break ground within literature in an unparalleled way for a story of a deep, dark and formative experience of abuse. Falling is Like Flying is not only an extraordinary novel, but also makes clear the coherence of Uphoff's entire oeuvre, from novels in which autobiographical family grief and the desire for escape were always major themes, from novellas that raised unheard voices, from short stories that breathed a disturbing aggression and absurdism: each time, the author circled around a black hole, into which she eventually plunged - and rose gloriously from."

The Charlotte Köhler Prize

The Charlotte Köhler Prize and the Stipend have been awarded since 1988. A different genre is considered for the prize every three years: prose, poetry, drama. The awarded work must have been published in book form in the three years preceding the year of the award. For theatrical works, the premiere date must be in the three years preceding the year of award. The award is made by the board of the Author Prizes Foundation. The Foundation is administered by the Authors' Association.

Previous winners:

Alfred Schaffer (poetry), Ad de Bont (drama), Mensje van Keulen (prose), Jean Pierre Rawie (poetry), Rob de Graaf (drama), Willem G. van Maanen (novel), H.H. ter Balkt (poetry), Judith Herzberg (drama).