Melinda Nadj Abonji Wins the German Book Prize 2010 for her Novel "Tauben fliegen auf"

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, October 4, 2010 - The winner of the German Book Prize 2010 is Melinda Nadj Abonji. She
receives the award for her novel "Tauben fliegen auf" (Jung und Jung Verlag).
"Melinda Nadj Abonji tells the story, as seen by daughter Ildiko, of a
Hungarian family from Vojvodina in Serbia, setting out to make a living in
the Swiss catering business. She tells it with her very own and vibrant
voice, to begin with, still from the child's view of the world, for whom
everything is new and yet who manages to understand things for herself, then
from the perspective of the young woman who gradually detects the fault lines
within and between these very different worlds, but always with great empathy
and humanity. What begins as an apparently carefree Balkan comedy when the
family sets off in a rickety old brown Chevrolet for the summer trip back
home, is soon overshadowed by the hand of history and the looming Yugoslavian
wars. So "Tauben fliegen auf" presents a deeper picture of a contemporary
Europe at a time of new departures, but by no means yet able to break with
its past." - This is how the seven judges explain their choice.

"Despite all the risks, there must be the innovative, risk-laden prize:
regardless of whether in the end the judges' decision meets with agreement or
criticism, literature will always be the winner. And enjoyment and a feeling
for literary quality grow among those readers, standards are reinforced and
innovations are discovered", said Prof. Gottfried Honnefelder, president of
the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels - German Publishers & Booksellers
Association.

The German Book Prize 2010 is presented by the Börsenverein des Deutschen
Buchhandels Stiftung as an award for the year's best German-language novel.

Contacts for the media:

Presse und Information Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.

Claudia Paul, Director, Press and Information, Press Officer
Phone +49-(0)69-1306-293, e-mail: paul@boev.de

Johannes Neufeld, Press Assistant
Phone +49-(0)69-1306-292, e-mail: neufeld@boev.de

Contacts for the media: Presse und Information Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.. Claudia Paul, Director, Press and Information, Press Officer, Phone +49-(0)69-1306-293, e-mail: paul at boev.de. Johannes Neufeld, Press Assistant, Phone +49-(0)69-1306-292, e-mail: neufeld at boev.de