The Karl Dedecius Prize Gala at Villa Decius – a great celebration of translation and Polish-German dialogue 12.06.2026
In 2026, the Karl Dedecius Prize will be celebrated in two cities of particular importance for Polish-German literary dialogue: on 19 June in Darmstadt and on 1 July in Kraków, at Villa Decius. This year’s laureates are Eliza Borg and Olaf Kühl – translators whose work shows that literature crosses borders thanks to people who are able to carry across not only words, but also the meaning, rhythm, and experience embedded in language.
On 1 July 2026 at 6:00 p.m., the Polish Gala of the Karl Dedecius Prize will take place at Villa Decius. The ceremony in Kraków will be part of a shared celebration of the Prize on both sides of the border – on 19 June in Darmstadt and on 1 July in Kraków. This two-city format has a symbolic meaning. For years, the Prize has reminded us that relations between Poland and Germany are built not only through politics, institutions, and official declarations, but also through literature, translation, and encounters with another language.
Olaf Kühl has received the Prize for the best translation from Polish into German for his translation of Szczepan Twardoch’s novel Die Nulllinie. Roman aus dem Krieg /Rowohlt Berlin 2025 / Null, Marginesy, Warsaw 2025/.
The Karl Dedecius Prize honours translators of Polish and German-language literature. Its aim is to show that literary translation is far more than the technical transfer of a text from one language into another. It is a creative act requiring great sensitivity, knowledge, and responsibility. A translator becomes a guide to another world – to its history, emotions, conflicts, memory, and ways of thinking.
It is thanks to translators that literature can truly enter international circulation. Without their work, even the most important books remain confined within the boundaries of a single language. Translation opens them up to new readers, new interpretations, and new conversations. In the context of Polish-German relations, this is of particular importance, as literature has long helped to name experiences that were difficult, painful, or left unspoken.
The Karl Dedecius Prize is awarded for the best translations of literary fiction from German into Polish and from Polish into German, published within the last two years. This underlines its relevance and its close connection with the contemporary literary market. The Prize not only honours the achievements of translators, but also highlights books that are currently playing a particularly meaningful role in the space of Polish-German dialogue.
The patron of the Prize, Karl Dedecius, was one of the most outstanding translators of Polish literature into German. He was one of the key figures in Polish-German dialogue after the Second World War. Thanks to his work, the writing of Polish authors could reach a broad German-speaking readership, and Polish literature gained a lasting place in the European cultural sphere. Dedecius did not regard translation merely as a profession. He saw it as a mission – a way of building understanding where history had left tensions, distrust, and broken ties. His work showed that literature can become a space for conversation, where different memories, languages, and experiences meet.
Villa Decius is particularly closely connected with Karl Dedecius’s vision. It was he who, in 1991, presented the idea of restoring the then-ruined Villa and creating there a “forum for humanists” – a space for encounters, conversation, and the exchange of ideas across the boundaries of languages, cultures, and traditions.
Today, this idea is continued by the Villa Decius Institute for Culture, a partner of the Karl Dedecius Prize. Through literary programmes, residencies, international activities, author meetings, and projects supporting intercultural dialogue, the Villa remains a place where literature is not treated solely as the art of words. It is also a tool for understanding, conversation, and building community.
This year’s laureates of the Karl Dedecius Prize are Eliza Borg and Olaf Kühl.
Eliza Borg has been awarded the Karl Dedecius Prize for the best translation from German into Polish for her translation of Jenny Erpenbeck’s novel Kairos /Wydawnictwo ZNAK, Kraków 2025 / Penguin Random House, Munich 2021/.Olaf Kühl has received the Prize for the best translation from Polish into German for his translation of Szczepan Twardoch’s novel Die Nulllinie. Roman aus dem Krieg /Rowohlt Berlin 2025 / Null, Marginesy, Warsaw 2025/.
The Karl Dedecius Prize honours translators of Polish and German-language literature. Its aim is to show that literary translation is far more than the technical transfer of a text from one language into another. It is a creative act requiring great sensitivity, knowledge, and responsibility. A translator becomes a guide to another world – to its history, emotions, conflicts, memory, and ways of thinking.
It is thanks to translators that literature can truly enter international circulation. Without their work, even the most important books remain confined within the boundaries of a single language. Translation opens them up to new readers, new interpretations, and new conversations. In the context of Polish-German relations, this is of particular importance, as literature has long helped to name experiences that were difficult, painful, or left unspoken.
The Karl Dedecius Prize is awarded for the best translations of literary fiction from German into Polish and from Polish into German, published within the last two years. This underlines its relevance and its close connection with the contemporary literary market. The Prize not only honours the achievements of translators, but also highlights books that are currently playing a particularly meaningful role in the space of Polish-German dialogue.
The patron of the Prize, Karl Dedecius, was one of the most outstanding translators of Polish literature into German. He was one of the key figures in Polish-German dialogue after the Second World War. Thanks to his work, the writing of Polish authors could reach a broad German-speaking readership, and Polish literature gained a lasting place in the European cultural sphere. Dedecius did not regard translation merely as a profession. He saw it as a mission – a way of building understanding where history had left tensions, distrust, and broken ties. His work showed that literature can become a space for conversation, where different memories, languages, and experiences meet.
Villa Decius is particularly closely connected with Karl Dedecius’s vision. It was he who, in 1991, presented the idea of restoring the then-ruined Villa and creating there a “forum for humanists” – a space for encounters, conversation, and the exchange of ideas across the boundaries of languages, cultures, and traditions.
Today, this idea is continued by the Villa Decius Institute for Culture, a partner of the Karl Dedecius Prize. Through literary programmes, residencies, international activities, author meetings, and projects supporting intercultural dialogue, the Villa remains a place where literature is not treated solely as the art of words. It is also a tool for understanding, conversation, and building community.