Austrian Crime Prize goes to Eva Rossmann

Former journalist and constitutional lawyer Eva Rossmann will be the seventh winner of the Austrian Crime Fiction Prize.

Eva Rossman. Image: Austrian Crime Fiction Prize, Nurith Wagner-Strauss

By Porter Anderson, Editor in Chief | @Porter_Anderson

“Countering today’s word machines”

An the busy schedule of international awards ceremonies coming back into view—an annual sign in late summer that fall is upon us—we have news that author Eva Rossmann has won the 4,000 euro (4,398 US dollars) Austrian Crime Fiction Prize, described by organizers as “a special recognition for outstanding crime novels.”

For Rossmann's selection, crime fiction specialists – including booksellers and journalists – were asked to name three German-speaking authors whose crime novels are particularly convincing in terms of content and literature. The nominated books should also “underline the cultural and social relevance of the genre and initiate new developments in the genre”.

The Austrian Crime Fiction Prize is being awarded for the seventh time this year and is a new competition in our reporting on book and publishing awards.

The award ceremony is planned for October 13 in Velden am Wörther See, a town in the Austrian province of Carinthia, in Villach-Land.

Born in Graz, Rossmann began a career as a constitutional lawyer in the Federal Chancellery and also worked as a political journalist, an activity that is also reflected in her novels, which often deal with current events and trends in cultural and political life.

She has been writing since 1995 and has transformed her main character, Mira Valensky, into a cook, adding a special touch to many titles that some describe as “culinary crime novels.”

Rossmann's new publication is published by the Viennese Folio Verlag and is supported by the award of the Austrian Crime Fiction Prize. All the best (All the best) is scheduled to be released by Folio on August 30th. By our count, this is her 21st release date.

Rossmann is co-founder She founded the Women's People's Initiative in 1997, advocates for social justice and has considered environmental concerns related to the growing climate crisis as a strong influence in her work.

Her protagonist Mira Valensky, together with her Bosnian friend Vesna Krajner, has dealt not only with the climate emergency, but also with political extremism, food security, displacement and migration, and political corruption.

As the award organizers wrote in their justification, the amateur detective Mira from Rossmann's books is “courageous, she is sharp-witted and, like her creator, dares to raise her voice when she sees injustices that make her angry.”

“Good stories are always a little unpredictable. Good stories connect different lives. This award is an incentive for me to counter today's word machines with exactly that.”Eva Rossmann

“Eva Rossmann's crime novels are therefore more than just gripping plots; they are literary works that address social and political issues, or, as Rossmann says, 'a small piece of the world that interests me.'”

“Your books ask whether law and justice are the same thing. And they, just like the author, always show attitude.”

Accepting the award ahead of the official ceremony in October, Rossman said: “We are all trying to tell a story about a small part of the world – and that can be beautiful at times, but it can also be murderous.

“Good stories are always a little unpredictable. Good stories connect different lives. This award is an incentive for me to counter today's word machines with exactly that.”

Previous winners of the Austrian Crime Fiction Prize

• Rita Falk, 2023
• Herbert Dutzler, 2022
• Andreas Gruber, 2021
• Alex Beer, 2019
• Ursula Poznanski, 2018
• Thomas Raab, 2017

You can find more information from Publishing Perspectives on international book and publishing awards here, more on fiction here, more on authors here and more on German-language publishing and interests here.