Beyond the Book: Background information when reading Broken Glass Park

Beyond the Book

This article relates to Broken Glass Park

The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize
Alina Bronsky's debut novel Broken Glass Park was originally published in 2008 by Kiepenheuer & Witsch under the German title Scherbenpark. It was immediately well received and nominated for one of Europe's most prestigious literary awards, the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize.

The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize is named after the beloved Austrian poet and author, Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-1973) who is known internationally for her works Der gute Gott von Manhattan, a radio play, and Malina, a novel. She is recognized as a "woman of letters" as she studied philosophy, German language & literature and psychology, and was a member of the Gruppe 47 a literary association that included Heinrich Böll, Paul Celan, and Günter Grass.

The prize has been awarded annually since 1977 in Klagenfurt, Austria, and is considered, along with the Joseph Breitbach Prize and the Georg Büchner, one of the most honored literary prizes in Europe. According to the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize website, there was much debate and lively discussion about Bronsky's work at the event; you can view videos of Bronsky reading and a panel discussion of her work here (in German).

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This article relates to Broken Glass Park. It first ran in the May 5, 2010 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.