Lutz Seiler

Lutz Seiler, born in 1963 in Gera, is widely regarded as one of the defining voices in contemporary German literature. He began his literary career as a poet, before achieving international acclaim with his novels Kruso (2014) and Stern 111 (2020). Both works, deeply rooted in the transformative period around 1989, are distinguished by their unmistakably poetic language and their profound exploration of East German life. Kruso has been translated into 25 languages and received numerous awards, including the German Book Prize and the Uwe Johnson Prize. For Stern 111, Seiler was honored with the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2020.

Seiler’s oeuvre spans poetry, novels, short stories, and essays, moving seamlessly between genres and bringing new, fascinating nuances to each literary form. His writing often centers on the upheavals of post-reunification Germany, the search for belonging, and the poetic mapping of origin and memory.

He has received many of the most prestigious literary honors in the German-speaking world, including the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, the Bremen Literature Prize, the Fontane Prize, the Uwe Johnson Prize, the German Book Prize, the Leipzig Book Fair Prize, and most recently, the Georg Büchner Prize in 2023-the highest literary accolade in German literature.

Lutz Seiler lives and works in Wilhelmshorst near Berlin and in Stockholm.