KIWI - Children's and Youth Audiobook Prize of the State Capital of Wiesbaden
Narrator Vidina Popov will receive the "KIWI – Children's and Young Adult Audiobook Award of the State Capital of Wiesbaden." The award ceremony will take place as part of the hr-Hörfest on Sunday, January 31, 2027, at the Hessian State Theater.
The “KIWI—Children’s and Youth Audiobook Award of the State Capital of Wiesbaden” goes to narrator Vidina Popov for her narration of the audiobook *Kanak Kids—Half-Adapted and Fully in Between* by Anna Dimitrova, published by Argon Verlag AVE GmbH. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and will be awarded as the finale of the hr-Hörfest Wiesbaden on Sunday, January 31, 2027, at 3:00 p.m. as part of the hr2 Children’s Audiobook Gala at the Kleines Haus of the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden.
The Children’s and Youth Audiobook Prize of the State Capital of Wiesbaden is awarded in cooperation with the jury of the hr2 Audiobook Best-Sellers List and is one of the most highly endowed prizes in this field.
Kanak Kids – Half-Adapted and Right in the Middle
The 2026 Children’s and Young Adult Audiobook of the Year, *Kanak Kids – Half-Adjusted and Totally in Between* by Anna Dimitrova, skillfully explores the topic of migration in an engaging and entertaining way. The heroine is 16-year-old Dessi, whose parents are from Bulgaria. Having grown up in Munich’s troubled Neuperlach neighborhood, Dessi now attends a high school in the city center. She feels torn between the world of her tradition-conscious father and her new friends from downtown. To avoid causing a stir, she keeps these two aspects of her life a secret from each other, even wearing a blonde wig and blue contact lenses when she goes to school. Of course, her secret is eventually exposed. Dessi now realizes that she must find her own identity and stand by her needs and desires.
The jury praises actress Vidina Popov for her skillful interpretation of the thoroughly authentic, profound, and yet humorous text, which she brings to life with great wit.
Vidina Popov
Vidina Popov is an actress, host, stand-up comedian, and singer with Bulgarian roots. She trained at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and with Philippe Gaulier in France. From 2017 to 2024, she was a member of the ensemble at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. She appears in various film and television productions, hosts her own radio show, and combines theater, stand-up comedy, and music in her solo show “Am I Bulgarian?!”