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On Tuesday 21 October 2025, Luxembourg’s Ministry for Culture announced the winners of the 2025 National Literary Competition.
As reported by the ministry, the jury of the 2025 National Literary Competition, chaired by Antoine Pohu and composed of Sofia Cumming, Sonia Da Silva, Helmuth Sperl and Jil Weiler, awarded works by authors Jhemp Hoscheit, Cathy Clement, Guy Helminger and Maude Blaschette.
The ministry noted that this edition of the National Literary Competition focused on novels written in Luxembourgish, French, German and/or English and received 56 submissions in the “adult authors” category and five submissions in the “young authors aged twelve to nineteen” category.
The winners of the 2025 National Literary Competition are:
⁃ Den Impakt vu Klappentexter by Jhemp Hoscheit, first prize in the adult authors category, awarded €7,500 and a contribution of up to €5,000 towards the publication costs of the winning work.
The jury said: “Den Impakt vu Klappentexter is a work that deals profoundly with loss and death. Absence is rooted both in language and in the everyday life of a person who, despite their pain, observes the world around them with sensitivity and empathy. Literature here plays an important role in the path towards a certain normality, even if each book, image or metaphor can revive grief. It is a novel about the solitude of daily life, the search for community, and love.”
⁃ Neel mat Käpp by Cathy Clement, second prize in the adult authors category, awarded €4,000.
The jury said: “The novel Neel mat Käpp captivates through its charm, humour and the originality of its narrative structure. The author manages to engage the reader, to make them laugh, while producing a work relevant to our time. It is a completely original story. It addresses themes such as friendship among women, ecological awareness, harassment, mental health, and touches the reader deeply.”
⁃ Die Elefantenhaut by Guy Helminger, third prize in the adult authors category, awarded €3,000.
The jury said: “In Die Elefantenhaut, an artist in crisis undertakes a journey around the world that is as strange as it is eccentric, serving both as an escape from his reality and art, and as a quest for self-discovery. Along the way, new friendships help him overcome personal and family difficulties. With a fluid pace and humourful language, the novel addresses themes such as ageing, loss, and the diversity of human relationships.”
⁃ Silent Screams by Maude Blaschette, first prize in the “young authors aged twelve to nineteen” category, awarded €3,000.
The jury said: “Silent Screams is a gripping youth crime novel. The jury selected this work because it skilfully combines vivid crime and action scenes with psychological tension and strong emotions such as fear and love, drawing the reader into its world. Aspects of young people’s everyday lives, such as harassment, solitude and grief, as well as friendship and solidarity, are addressed, which should particularly resonate with young readers.”
The ministry remarked that Minister for Culture, Eric Thill, extended his warmest congratulations to the winners and expressed pleasure that the National Literary Competition enables new talents to emerge each year, while also highlighting established authors. He hoped that their works will be published soon and reach a readership as broad as it is diverse.
The official presentation of the prizes for the 2025 National Literary Competition will take place on Tuesday 2 December 2025, at the National Literature Centre in Mersch.
The ministry also announced that the 2026 edition of the National Literary Competition will focus on poetry collections. The call for entries and the competition rules are available at https://mcult.gouvernement.lu/fr/Domaines/appels-a-projets/concours-litteraire-national-2026.html.
