Robert Menasse and Yevgeniy Breyger Honoured in the City of Vienna’s Cultural Awards

Suhrkamp authors Robert Menasse and Yevgeniy Breyger have both received honours in this year’s City of Vienna Cultural Awards.

Robert Menasse received the main prize for literature, while Yevgeniy Breyger was awarded the emerging writer’s prize.

In their public remarks, the jury stated: »Robert Menasse’s literary oeuvre – whether as a novelist or an essayist – is permeated by the notion of the individual as the essence of political and social conditions.« The jury went on to praise Menasse’s writing for the way that it consistently deals with the »failure of human consciousness to develop into an all-encompassing spirit« and with the fact that »every step forward carries the risk of regression«.

This year’s emerging writer’s prize was awarded to Yevgeniy Breyger, whom the judges described as writing »contemporary, political poetry that couples experiences of war, issues of identity, and social reality with great formal freedom and personal urgency«.

The City of Vienna’s cultural prizes, which have been awarded since 1947 in the fields of architecture, fine art, media art, literature, music, journalism, the sciences, and public education, are each endowed with €10,000. The awards for emerging practitioners are each worth €5,000.