Albrecht Lempp Scholarship

The aim of this scholarship founded by the Book Institute, Foundation for Polish-German Co-operation and Literarisches Colloquium Berlin is to improve the art of the translation and writing in the spirit of the literary and translation standards that the patron held dear.

Albrecht Lempp (1953–2012) was an outstanding populariser of Polish literature in Germany and a translator. He laid the foundations for a modern system of promoting Poland through literature. He was a co-creator of the Book Institute and contributor to Poland’s success as Guest of Honour at the International Book Fair in Frankfurt in 2000. In 2007, he received the Transatlantyk Award for his great achievement in popularising Polish literature in the world. For many years he served as director of the Foundation for Polish-German Co-operation and made a great contribution to the development of Polish-German relations.

The scholarship in his name is for writers from Poland and Germany and translators of Polish and German literature.

Winners of the Albrecht Lempp Scholarship to date have been:

• 2013 – Justyna Bargielska and Armin Senser
• 2014 – Tomasz Różycki and Paulina Schulz
• 2015 – Krystyna Dąbrowska and Tobias Schwartz
• 2016 – Renate Schmidgall and Marek Zagańczyk
• 2017 – Kira Pietrek and Mia Raben
• 2018 – Zyta Rudzka and Isabelle Lehn
• 2019 – Małgorzata Rejmer and Julia Wolf
• 2020 – Jakub Małecki and Susanne Fritz
• 2021 – Patrycja Pustkowiak and Leander Steinkopf
• 2022 – Anna Cieplak and Leon Engler
• 2023 – Dariusz Sośnicki and Antje Ritter-Miller
• 2024 – Natalia Malek, Daniel Odija and Christan Dittloff
• 2025 – Aleksandra Tarnowska and Katharina Bendixen

The scholarship programme includes two one-month stays in the neighbour’s country yearly:

• a month in the guest house of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin for a Polish writer or translator; the sponsors cover the travel and board costs and pay a scholarship of 1,200 Euro;
• a month in Krakow for a German writer or translator in a flat at the disposal of the scholarship winner; the sponsors cover the travel and board costs and pay a scholarship of 1,200 Euro.

The choice of scholarship winners is made by a jury from the Foundation for Polish-German Co-operation, the Book Institute and Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. Ms Elżbieta Lempp is an honorary member.