Deutscher Buchpreis: Welcome

Theresa Donner

Theresa Donner, born in 1988, studied Romance languages and intercultural business communication in Jena. This was followed by internships at various publishing houses and a master’s degree in applied literary studies at the Free University of Berlin. She then worked for several years at “Buchbox” in Berlin. In 2017, she opened her own bookshop, “heiter bis wolkig”, in Halle. Since then, not only has her family grown by two children, but the bookshop has also expanded to include a second branch. Donner is a member of the IGUS Speakers’ Group of the Börsenverein (German Publishers and Booksellers Association).

Jan Ehlert

Jan Ehlert, born in Bad Oldesloe in 1979, studied journalism in Bochum and Dunkirk, France. Following a traineeship at Norddeutscher Rundfunk, he worked as a book critic and host of literary readings, including for the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) and the Harbour Front Festival in Hamburg. Together with the ZEIT Foundation, he conceived the event series “Literatur zur Lage”, which examines classics in the light of current issues. He also hosts a book podcast and appears on radio and television as a literary expert.

Maha El Hissy

Maha El Hissy, born in Alexandria in 1980, is a freelance critic, curator, and presenter. She writes for the Berlin Review of Books, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, and other outlets, and co-edits the anthology “Elegie für das letzte Licht” [“Elegy for the Last Light”] (Fischer, 2026). She curates the literary series “Vorzeichen” [“Omen”] (2024) and the Arabic-language podcast series “Ne7ki” (2025) and serves on several award juries, including that of the International Literature Prize – Haus der Kulturen der Welt. El Hissy lives and works in Berlin.

Cornelia Geißler

Cornelia Geißler, a Berlin native, trained as a typesetter, studied journalism in Leipzig and Moscow, and has worked at the Berliner Zeitung since 1990, where she has been in charge of the literature section since 2017. She is a member of the SWR- Bestenliste (SWR Best List) and served on the jury for the Alfred Döblin Prize in 2019 and for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize from 2022 to 2025.

Emily Grunert

Emily Grunert, born in Mainz in 1992, studied creative writing and cultural journalism in Hildesheim and applied literary studies in Berlin. After working in Berlin and Rostock, she is now the director of the Literaturbüro NRW, based in Düsseldorf. She also works as a presenter and writer.

Stefanie Kreuzer

Stefanie Kreuzer is a literature and film scholar. Since 2017, she has been a professor of “Modern German Literature / Media Studies” at the University of Kassel, organiser of the Grimm Chair of Poetics in Kassel, and editor of the associated book series on contemporary writers and filmmakers published by K&N. Her research focuses on film/narratology, trans- and intermedial storytelling, time in film, and Austrian literature. She earned her doctorate in Frankfurt am Main in 2005 (“Literarische Phantastik in der Postmoderne” [“Literary Fantasy in Postmodernism”] | Winter 2007) and completed her habilitation, a German postdoctoral qualification, in Hanover in 2012 (“Traum und Erzählen in Literatur, Film und Kunst” [“Dream and Narrative in Literature, Film, and Art”] | Fink 2014).

Adam Soboczynski

Adam Soboczynski, born in Toruń, Poland, in 1975, heads the literature section of the arts and culture supplement of Die Zeit. In 2022, he received the Michael Althen Prize for Criticism. His most recent book is “Traumland. Der Westen, der Osten und ich” [“Dreamland. The West, the East, and Me”] (2023).