German Book Prize Longlist 2012

Here it is, in all its glory: the twenty titles nominated for this year's big, big book prize.  

• Ernst Augustin: Robinsons blaues Haus (C. H. Beck, Januar 2012)

• Bernd Cailloux: Gutgeschriebene Verluste (Suhrkamp, Februar 2012)

• Jenny Erpenbeck: Aller Tage Abend (Knaus, September 2012)

• Milena Michiko Flašar: Ich nannte ihn Krawatte (Wagenbach, Januar 2012)

• Rainald Goetz: Johann Holtrop (Suhrkamp, September 2012)

• Olga Grjasnowa: Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt (Hanser, Februar 2012)

• Wolfgang Herrndorf: Sand (Rowohlt.Berlin, November 2011)

• Bodo Kirchhoff: Die Liebe in groben Zügen (Frankfurter Verlags-anstalt, September 2012)

• Germán Kratochwil: Scherbengericht (Picus, Februar 2012)

• Ursula Krechel: Landgericht (Jung und Jung, August 2012)

• Dea Loher: Bugatti taucht auf (Wallstein, März 2012)

• Angelika Meier: Heimlich, heimlich mich vergiss (Diaphanes, März 2012)

• Sten Nadolny: Weitlings Sommerfrische (Piper, Mai 2012)

• Christoph Peters: Wir in Kahlenbeck (Luchterhand, August 2012)

• Michael Roes: die Laute (Matthes & Seitz Berlin, September 2012)

• Patrick Roth: Sunrise (Wallstein, März 2012)

• Frank Schulz: Onno Viets und der Irre vom Kiez (Galiani Berlin, Februar 2012)

• Clemens J. Setz: Indigo (Suhrkamp, September 2012)

• Stephan Thome: Fliehkräfte (Suhrkamp, September 2012)

• Ulf Erdmann Ziegler: Nichts Weißes (Suhrkamp, August 2012)

I've tried to link to English-language information but that wasn't available in most cases. Apparently there'll be a free app featuring extracts from the novels, from the end of August. You can also get hold of the legendary hard-to-find booklet in participating bookstores from next week. There isn't a list of participating bookstores so good luck to you. I shall do my best to get my hands on the extracts and write up my traditional short opinionated blurbs about them before the shortlist is announced on 12 September. In the past the now-defunct signandsight website published English translations extracted from the shortlisted titles, which was a wonderful thing. Perhaps they'll make English extracts available elsewhere - that would certainly contribute to the award's international profile, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, you can read my reviews of the three longlisted titles I've already read here, here and here. Anyway, it's a fairly eclectic list with a mixture of big guns and smaller names.