Yannic Han Biao Federer Receives the Family Novel Book Prize 2025
News05.10.2025
Cologne-based author Yannic Han Biao Federer has been awarded the Family Novel Book Prize 2025 for his book I See You Everywhere, Forever.
In announcing its decision, the jury stated: »This highly personal book by Yannic Han Biao Federer does not just deal with a personal catastrophe. A highly literary text, it addresses a social taboo while at the same time showing how strong the cohesion of a family can be. The bereaved parents face the death of their son head on, forming a family with Gustav Tian Ming. The support provided by their own parents, siblings, and other relatives and friends also plays an important role, and the young couple feels that they are embedded in a stable social fabric. The story is also remarkable in aesthetic terms; the author does not recount the events with conventional means, but from the very start, wrestles with himself to find an appropriate artistic form. He achieves this impressively. Although they will be left with a scar for the rest of their lives, in the end, the couple looks toward the future with hope and consolation.
The Stiftung Ravensburger Verlag’s Family Novel Book Prize, now in its 15th year, is awarded annually to the author of a German-language publication of narrative prose (novel, short story, anthology, autobiography, or autofiction). The €15,000 cash prize is awarded to a writer “who uses stylistic literary devices to paint a contemporary picture of the family.” The foundation consults with experts from the fields of literary criticism and bookselling when selecting the winner. In 2025, the advisors were Dr Uwe Wittstock (literary critic and author), Sandra Kegel (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Cornelia Geißler (Berliner Zeitung), Mareike Fallwickl (literary blogger and author), Michael Riethmüller (RavensBuch bookstore), and Andrea Reidt (journalist and author).
The prize will be presented on 24 November 2025 in Berlin.
In announcing its decision, the jury stated: »This highly personal book by Yannic Han Biao Federer does not just deal with a personal catastrophe. A highly literary text, it addresses a social taboo while at the same time showing how strong the cohesion of a family can be. The bereaved parents face the death of their son head on, forming a family with Gustav Tian Ming. The support provided by their own parents, siblings, and other relatives and friends also plays an important role, and the young couple feels that they are embedded in a stable social fabric. The story is also remarkable in aesthetic terms; the author does not recount the events with conventional means, but from the very start, wrestles with himself to find an appropriate artistic form. He achieves this impressively. Although they will be left with a scar for the rest of their lives, in the end, the couple looks toward the future with hope and consolation.
The Stiftung Ravensburger Verlag’s Family Novel Book Prize, now in its 15th year, is awarded annually to the author of a German-language publication of narrative prose (novel, short story, anthology, autobiography, or autofiction). The €15,000 cash prize is awarded to a writer “who uses stylistic literary devices to paint a contemporary picture of the family.” The foundation consults with experts from the fields of literary criticism and bookselling when selecting the winner. In 2025, the advisors were Dr Uwe Wittstock (literary critic and author), Sandra Kegel (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Cornelia Geißler (Berliner Zeitung), Mareike Fallwickl (literary blogger and author), Michael Riethmüller (RavensBuch bookstore), and Andrea Reidt (journalist and author).
The prize will be presented on 24 November 2025 in Berlin.