Prize of the Houses of Literature
The network of literary houses with ARTE as cultural partner awards the Prize of the Houses of Literature 2026 to the author and essayist Lena Gorelik.
Lena Gorelik was hailed as a literary discovery with her debut novel *My White Nights* (2004), and she was nominated for the German Book Prize for *Wedding in Jerusalem* (2007). Most recently, she published the novel *Who We Are* (2021), and *All My Mothers* is set to be released in spring 2026 (all published by Rowohlt Verlag). Lena Gorelik also regularly writes essays and reports on current topics, including for the *Süddeutsche Zeitung* and *Die Zeit*.
Lena Gorelik is not only a multi-award-winning author but also uses the possibilities offered by literature and the events industry to respond to social developments. As co-editor of *Trotzdem sprechen* (Speak Anyway), she advocated for maintaining dialogue at events following October 7, 2023. The book is a plea for humanity in times of hatred, incitement, and right-wing populism. The reading performance of József Debreczeni’s *Kaltes Krematorium*, co-curated with Carolin Emcke, helped keep the memory of Nazi crimes alive. Through her books and her stage appearances, Lena Gorelik encourages a nuanced, vibrant, and critical exchange, for which she is being honored with the Literature Houses Award.
The program directors of the literature houses in the network, with ARTE as a cultural partner, honor Lena Gorelik as an author who has rendered outstanding service to the unique character of literary events.
The Literature Houses Prize has been awarded since 2002, most recently to Antje Rávik Strubel (2019), Marlene Streeruwitz (2020), Ingo Schulze (2021), Sasha Marianna Salzmann (2022), and Fiston Mwanza Mujila (2024). The prize money amounts to 20,000 euros.
About Lena Gorelik
Born in St. Petersburg in 1981, Lena Gorelik came to Germany with her Russian-Jewish family in 1992. After training at the German School of Journalism in Munich, she completed the elite degree program "Eastern European Studies." She has been awarded the Bavarian Art Promotion Prize, the Ernst Hoferichter Prize, the Friedrich Hölderlin Prize, and, in 2024, the Heinrich Mann Prize for Essay Writing. She also teaches creative writing, curated the Stuttgart Literature Festival in 2023, and held a poetry lectureship at the University of Hanover in 2022.