Son Lewandowski and Selim Özdogan Win Cologne's Dieter-Wellershoff-Stipendium 2026

Son Lewandowski and Selim Özdogan have been awarded the Dieter-Wellershoff-Stipendium 2026, each receiving €12,000. The working scholarships, funded by the City of Cologne and administered by Literaturhaus Köln, were decided by a three-member jury comprising Nada Assaad, Uwe Kalkowski, and Christa Morgenrath. The jury reviewed 28 anonymous submissions, selecting winners based on exposés and text samples. Lewandowski (born 1988), an author and curator, co-founded Cologne's unruly readings and Insert Female Artist. Her debut novel "Die Routinen" appeared in January 2026. Her project "Die Fische wässern" explores the world of intelligence services through the perspective of women working as secretaries in the 1990s–2010s, addressing authoritarianism, machismo, and sexism. Özdogan (born 1971), a Cologne-based author, has previously won the Adelbert-von-Chamisso-Preis (1999) and the Hohenemser Literaturpreis (2017). His project "Trainingstag – Nie mein echtes Leben" uses a crime novel framework to examine classism, migrant experiences, exclusion, influencer culture, and organized crime.