Kinga Tóth Emerges as Early Favorite for 50th Bachmann Prize

On the centenary of Ingeborg Bachmann's birth, 14 students from the Institute of German Studies at the University of Klagenfurt are reporting on the 50th Days of German-Language Literature in Klagenfurt. On the first reading day, Helga Schubert delivered a 'Speech on Literature' opening the event, quoting Bachmann: 'My memory is inhuman. I had to think of everything, every betrayal and every baseness.' Schubert, winner of the Bachmann Prize in 2020, is one of the most striking figures in the competition's history. When first invited to Klagenfurt, colleagues in the GDR prevented her participation. In her speech, she extensively cited the relevant Stasi file: 'On April 3, 1980, writer Helga Schubert applied to the foreign department of the GDR Writers' Union for a reading trip.' Kinga Tóth is now the first favorite for the 50th Bachmann Prize in 2026.