Literature - Georg Trakl Prize and Georg Trakl Sponsorship Prize

The literature funding program of the State of Salzburg honors outstanding achievements in the German-language poetry sector with the Georg Trakl Prize and the Georg Trakl Promotion Prize. The Georg Trakl Prize (€10,000) recognizes the complete poetic oeuvre of a poet on the occasion of significant birth or death anniversaries of the Salzburg poet Georg Trakl. In parallel, the Georg Trakl Promotion Prize (€5,000) is awarded to increase the visibility of unpublished poetry by young authors and to promote their originality. Both awards reflect the State of Salzburg’s commitment to cultural diversity and emphasize the importance of poetic forms of expression for the literary landscape of the region.

The selection of the laureates is made by an expert jury, which decides on the Georg Trakl Prize based on proposals and without submissions, whereas unpublished manuscripts must be submitted for the Promotion Prize. Key evaluation criteria are the literary quality of the complete oeuvre or the originality and linguistic excellence of the submitted texts. Eligible participants are German-language poets or authors of unpublished poetry collections. Funding amounts available are €10,000 for the complete oeuvre and €5,000 for unpublished poetry. The objective is to discover new poetic voices, support existing artistic processes, and draw attention to innovative poetic works. The program offers a unique opportunity to promote literary creation in the German-speaking world and to keep the poetic legacy of Georg Trakl alive.