Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture reported on Friday 22 May 2026, that the jury for the Batty Weber Prize had selected Guy Helminger as winner for the fourteenth edition of the prize.
Created in 1987, the Batty Weber Prize is the national prize for Luxembourg literature. Awarded every three years by the Ministry of Culture in tribute to the Luxembourg writer and man of letters Batty Weber, it aims to reward a Luxembourg writer for the literary quality, originality and cultural influence of their complete body of work.
Guy Helminger, who’s work spans a wide variety of forms - including prose, short stories, plays and radio drama - has received numerous distinctions both in Luxembourg and abroad, notably in 2004 during the Days of German-Language Literature in Klagenfurt, in 2020 with the Gustav Regler Prize of the city of Merzig and in 2022 with the Merano Poetry Prize. He also received the Servais Prize twice: in 2002 for the short story collection Rost and in 2022 for the novel Lärm.
The jury said: “By honouring Guy Helminger it pays tribute to an author of extraordinary versatility and richness, who succeeds in reflecting the diversity of human experiences through a remarkable stylistic range without ever losing sight of the pleasure of his readers”.
For the 2026 edition of the prize, the jury consisted of:
• Nathalie Jacoby, Director of the National Centre for Literature, President of the Jury
• Lia Blum, Head of Department, Regional Public Library of Dudelange
• Jérôme Jaminet, teacher and literary critic
• Claude Mangen, Director, Mierscher Theatre
• Jean Portante, author
• Tonia Raus, Assistant Professor, University of Luxembourg
• Laurent Thiry, bookseller
The official award ceremony will take place on Wednesday 30 September 2026 at 19:30 at the National Centre for Literature in Mersch.
The Batty Weber Prize carries an award of €10,000.
