Judith Schalansky is the new Mainz City Writer of the Year 2014. "An absolute stroke of luck!" says Marianne Grosse, Head of Cultural Affairs. "Her books are thematically captivating, creatively outstanding, and a tactile experience for book lovers. It's simply a pleasure to immerse oneself in these printed masterpieces—and, aside from the magnificent design elements, to see confirmation that Judith Schalansky is also a great author. The fact that her first typographic book was published by Hermann Schmidt Verlag in Mainz is a perfect fit. This young author arouses curiosity – and is an excellent choice as city writer!" said the head of the cultural department, delighted with the jury's choice. In the city of Gutenberg, she is the ideal choice!

The jury's verdict: Judith Schalansky has already produced an unusually diverse body of work at a young age, spanning various literary genres, in which content and graphic design come together masterfully. A dual talent: the author has mastered book design at the highest level as well as the subtleties of prose.

Judith Schalansky studied art history at the Free University of Berlin and communication design at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, where she also taught until 2009 after completing her studies. Her publishing career began with the typographical compendium "Fraktur Mon Amour," which was published in 2006 by Hermann Schmidt Verlag in Mainz.

In 2008, Schalansky moved into the more fictional realm with her novel Blau steht Dir nicht (Matrosenroman). Her much-discussed literary debut is a haunting account of growing up on the Baltic Sea during the GDR era—here, too, we find photographic reminiscences that frame the autobiographically based story.

In 2009, she caused a sensation with the bibliophile coffee-table book Atlas der abgelegenen Inseln (Atlas of Remote Islands), again published by Mare Verlag in Hamburg. Schalansky shows in the most beautiful way possible that the most adventurous journeys ultimately take place in the mind. With her highly aesthetic book about the "50 islands I have never been to and will never be to," she made a splash with all those book lovers who have a penchant for outstandingly designed printed works.
The fact that Schalansky was responsible for both the writing and the design of this clever, large-format "island" book earned her rave reviews. For this work—as well as for her latest novel, Der Hals der Giraffe (The Giraffe's Neck, 2011, Suhrkamp)—she received the 1st prize from the Stiftung Buchkunst (Book Art Foundation) as "Most Beautiful Book of the Year."

The work "Der Hals der Giraffe," published in 2011—an entertaining "Bildungsroman" about a "Darwinian struggle for survival" in a school in Mecklenburg—is true to life and humorously bitter, sometimes amusing, sometimes sarcastically evil, but always incredibly readable. It was no coincidence that the book was nominated for the German Book Prize in 2011.
The story, which depicts everyday school life from the perspective of a biology teacher in a small town in Vorpommern, sketches the school as a reflection of nature, where the principle of performance and Darwinian competition prevail. It is a harsh climate in which the teacher shows little compassion. Schalansky has enriched the book with detailed drawings of manatees, jellyfish, pterosaurs, fish, and fetuses, designing it like a real biology book. "Der Hals der Giraffe" became a great literary success, celebrated by critics and readers alike.

Schalansky, who has won numerous awards, including the Villa Aurora scholarship in Los Angeles, the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany in silver, sponsorship awards from the Friedrich Hölderlin Prize of the City of Bad Homburg, as well as the Lessing Prize of the Free State of Saxony and, most recently, the Märkische Scholarship for Literature, lives in Berlin. She was born in Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in 1980 and is the 30th recipient of the prize – and thus also the youngest Mainz City Writer ever selected. The prestigious literary prize was first awarded to the writer Gabriele Wohmann in 1985.