Other prizes to be awarded in the course of the Bachmann Prize event will be subject to the same guidelines as for the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize. The exception is the Audience Prize.

Guidelines for
conferral of the
INGEBORG BACHMANN PRIZE 2008

1. The provincial capital city Klagenfurt is the sponsor for the Ingeborg-Bachmann Prize 2008. The prize is 25,000 euros.

2. The prize will be awarded by a Jury during the course of the German Literature Days which is organised by the provincial city of Klagenfurt and the ORF Provincial Studio Carinthia.

3. The Jury consists of at least 7, maximum 13, journalists, critics, academics and writers. The number of Jury members must be uneven. The choice of Jurors is made by representatives for the organisers.

4. A maximum of 14 writers will be considered for the award. These writers will be proposed by members of the Jury, giving their reasons for the choices made, and invited by the organisers to join the German Literature Days at Klagenfurt. Previous Ingeborg Bachmann prize-winners and any other writers who have already received prizes and/or scholarships within the scope of the event can take part again and win an award.

5. It must be clear at all times which Juror has recommended which writer.

6. Course of events at the public presentation:
The organisers provide a neutral moderator who is not a member of the Jury and has no vote. The invited writers read from their own unpublished work (partly published work is not permitted) in front of the Jury, the general public and media, including radio, television and internet. The order of readings will have been decided already by a draw. According to §8 of the Copyright Law a work is deemed to be published “as soon as it has been made available to the public with the permission of the copyright holder” (even radio and television broadcasts are deemed to be publication). A work is also deemed to be published in the sense described above if it has already appeared in an adapted form (including translation). Furthermore, those works that have already been submitted to comparable competitions are also excluded. Works that have been sent to individual reviewers for the exclusive purpose of reviewing the same (advance copies) are also deemed to be published in the sense described above. Each writer will read for a maximum of 30 minutes. After each reading there follows a Jury discussion. If desired, the writer may intervene to give their view on the Jury’s comments. The writer is entitled to have the last word. Reading and discussion together shall not exceed 60 minutes.

7. The entire event will be transmitted by 3sat over satellite networks.

8. Determination of the prize winner takes place by open ballot. The members of the Jury are obliged to state their reasons for their choice of winner publicly, including via television and radio. If no writer gets a majority vote a more focussed ballot must take place: during this ballot, only those votes are valid that are cast for one of the two writers who had the largest and second largest number of votes on the first ballot. If the largest and/or second largest number of votes is cast for two or more writers, there will have to be a run-off ballot. If need be, any necessary further voting must take place according to the same guidelines. Every Juror is obliged to participate in each part of the process. Abstention from voting is not possible. If in the last ballot, no writer gains the absolute majority, the prize will not be awarded and expires without substitution. The prize may not be shared.

The members of the Jury are obliged to be present throughout the period of the event needed for determining the prize winner, with the exception of absence owing to illness, Act of God or similar.

9. Other prizes to be awarded in the course of the Bachmann Prize event will be subject to the same guidelines as for the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize. The exception is the Audience Prize.

10. If during the course of these events, scholarships and awards are conferred which are in addition to the Ingeborg Bachmann prize, the members of the Jury are to decide the mode of conferral.

11. The writers are obliged to send in their manuscripts by May 15, 2008 (date as postmarked) by registered mail as a computer print-out and on data carrier (PC compatible disk or CD) to ORF Provincial Studio Carinthia. The text sent in by this date must be identical to the text presented at the public readings. Members of the Jury, the Moderator, representatives from publishing houses and the media present at the event, other writers presenting readings and the general public in the ORF Theater will receive manuscript copies. Copyright remains in each case with the writer; this is also valid for broadcasting rights if extracts to be broadcast on radio, television or online exceed the usual reporting parameters, including documentation, for all German-speaking countries.

12. The organisers plan to publish documentation (e.g. in book form, as video, as CD etc) themselves or by contract, as well as internet texts including translations on the homepages http://bachmannpreis.orf.at and www.3sat.de. The texts read at the event are therefore to be available upon request and without charge. The rights remain with the authors. For the above mentioned publications, authors are requested to provide a professional quality colour photo (not a passport photo!) of themselves free of charge.

13. The organisers are responsible for the travel and accommodation expenses of the Jury members and the invited writers.

14. The above guidelines are binding on the members of the Jury and the invited authors; no recourse to legal action is permitted.