At the heart of the next.gen program line is the Harbour Front Debut Prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, one of the most prestigious prizes for German-language debut works. It will be awarded on the opening weekend in 2026 and will focus on the best German-language fiction debut of the year. It is not uncommon for the winners of the individual years to become the literary stars of tomorrow and many of the award-winning or nominated authors later return to the festival programme with new works - such as Elena Fischer, who is represented in the regular programme this year with her second novel after her nomination in 2023.

We are very pleased to present the shortlist of the Harbour Front Debut Award 2026:

Katrin Zipse: "Moosland" (DuMont)
Martin Piekar: "Vom Fällen eines Stammbaums" (Rowohlt Hundert Augen)
Oliwia Hälterlein: "Wir Töchter" (C.H. Beck)
Son Lewandowski: "Die Routinen" (Klett-Cotta)
David Vajda: "Diamanten" (Hanser Berlin)
Maja Zade: "Wand an Wand" (Matthes & Seitz)

On September 20, the six nominees will present their debuts as part of the next.gen: new voices program. They introduce themselves to the audience in readings and discussions before the jury makes its final decision in a public discussion. Exciting debates and passionate pleas for the favourites are guaranteed before the Harbour Front Debut Prize 2026 is ceremoniously awarded at the end of the evening.

We are very pleased to be able to introduce these Hamburg booksellers as part of the Debut Prize jury and would like to thank them very much for their commitment and support:
Pascal Mathéus- Buchhandlung Wassermann
Can Mayaoglu – Bookstore in the Literaturhaus Hamburg
Melanie Winkler - Bookstore Thalia Norderstedt
Julia Kemp - Bookstore & Antiquarian Bookshop Lüders

Be there when a new literary voice is awarded the Debut Prize.