Literature Prize of the State Capital of Wiesbaden
The 2026 Literature Prize of the State Capital of Wiesbaden goes to the writer, director, dancer, and choreographer Judith Kuckart. The award ceremony will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the thalhaus Theater Wiesbaden, with Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende in attendance.
The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and, since 2020, has been awarded biennially to authors who work across media and establish connections to other arts, media, or discourses. The expert jury consists of literary critics Professor Dr. Moritz Baßler (University of Münster), Katharina Borchardt (SWR), and Dr. Wiebke Porombka (Deutschlandfunk).
Awards Ceremony at the thalhaus Theater
The award ceremony will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the thalhaus Theater in Wiesbaden, with Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende in attendance. Dr. Wiebke Porombka will deliver the laudatory speech. As part of the event, Judith Kuckart will provide insight into her work.
About Judith Kuckart
Judith Kuckart was born in 1959 and grew up in Schwelm, on the outskirts of the Ruhr region. She currently lives in Berlin and Zurich. She studied literature and theater studies and also trained in dance. In 1984, she founded the Skoronel Dance Theater, an independent professional company with which she staged seventeen productions through 1998. She has been working as a freelance director since 1999. In 2021, she staged a revival with the original Skoronel ensemble titled *THE EARTH IS INFINITELY BEAUTIFUL, BUT IT IS NOT SAFE*. The premiere took place as part of the Wiesbaden Literature Days. Judith Kuckart’s first novel, *Wahl der Waffen*, was published in 1990. It was followed by numerous other novels, radio plays, and (narrative) stage plays. She has received numerous fellowships and awards, including the 2009 Ruhr Literature Prize and the 2012 Annette von Droste-Hülshoff Prize. In 2026, she served as city writer in Chemnitz and Bergen-Enkheim.
Jury statement
The jury is honoring Judith Kuckart because she “has always combined the art forms of dance and storytelling with equal parts virtuosity and ease, thereby creating literary choreographies.” Judith Kuckart’s latest work, *Die Welt zwischen den Nachrichten* (The World Between the News), published in 2024, is exemplary of her body of work. The jury’s statement reads: “Set against the backdrop of the Ruhr region, Italy, Switzerland, and Berlin, Kuckart highlights key moments in postwar history and an artist’s biography, exploring the possibilities of women’s life paths. In doing so, she interweaves narrative strands and motifs in a musical, seemingly lighthearted and playful manner. A slim volume that, thanks to its intellectual and aesthetic agility, becomes a major work and opens up the space to be both a memoir and a novel about the contemporary history of the Federal Republic of Germany.”