Anne-Marie Reuter Awarded Prix Servais 2025

On Monday 30 June 2025, the Prix Servais 2025 was awarded to Anne-Marie Reuter at the National Centre for Literature (CNL) in Mersch.

The award was for her novel "M for Amnesia", published in 2024 by Black Fountain Press; the other short-listed works included Tomas Bjornstan for his animated film "Die Verlorenen"; Carla Lucarelli for her poems "Salztage + Zuruck"; Guy Reweing, for his novel "Goss"; and Margret Steckel, for her story "Doswidanja".

For the first time in the Servais Prize history, the award has gone to a work on Luxembourg's literature in English. The prize includes an endowment of €7,500.

The Luxembourg Literature event was organised by the Servais Foundation at the CNL in front of a group of almost one hundred guests; the event was held primarily in English.

Emmanuel Servais, President of the Servais Foundation, addressed those attending be extending a warm welcome and presented the Servais Prize and the jury, referencing facts and assumptions: in this context, he jokingly referred to the warm weather (it was 34C outside as the ceremony commenced, and mentioned about bottles of water being available for those "thirsty for literature". 

He recalled that the prize was created in 1991, with the criteria remaining largely the same since its start: the quality of the language, the originality of the subject and the manner in which it was treated, with the prize open to those residing in Luxembourg and also Luxembourg nationals residing abroad; in addition to works in French, German and Luxembourgish, a recent addition has been English. He also confirmed that the prize endowment has risen a few times. He mentioned that Luxembourg has five literary prizes, each with their own focus, with the Ministry of Culture coordinating two - the annual literature prize and the Batty Weber Awards (every three years). 

Sébastian Thiltges, President of the Jury, spoke in Luxembourgish and in English about the jury deliberations and their challenge of reviewing the short-listed works, as well as the subject of the dystopian setting involving two female protagonists and their relationship.

The nine-strong 2025 Servais Prize jury also comprised Fabienne Gilbertz, Ludivine Jehin, Henning Marmulla, Diane Neises, Jérôme Netgen, Shari Schenten, Aimée Schultz and Tamara Sondag. 

Following the presentation of the award to Anne-Marie Reuter by Emmanuel Servais and Sébastian Thiltges, Luxembourg's Minister of Culture, Eric Thill, then addressed the event in Luxembourgish, congratulating Anne-Marie Reuter on her achievement, and the jury for their deliberations.

Dr Miriam Baldwin, from the University of Newcastle in England, revealed that her great grandfather was born in Echternach in 1848, and that she has some of the furniture from his house, illustrating her personal connection. She described the winning novel as powerful and fascinating, profound and deeply moving, and a "brilliantly crafted text", referencing the period setting as one of climate crisis and digital connectivity, with a "digital human being", with homo sapiens responsible for destroying the planet and society, with trans species saving humanity. She also talked about sensory implants and memory implants, with the novel addressing other issues including socio-economic tensions and migration, as well as deeply ethical concerns, describing the writing style as narrative disruption. 

Anne-Marie Reuter started of by speaking in Luxembourgish and referred to "M for Amnesia" (in English), reading out a specially-prepared text involving the two protagonists in her book, reflecting on it winning the award and celebrating with a bottle of crémant, wondering out loud what they would wear to the ceremony. She talked about caring for characters in novels, and spending time with writers by reading their novels, describing writing and reading as being inseparable. She also addressed the issue of AI, asking if stories in the future will be written for us, "disconnecting from our brains"; reading will still be important, wiring our brains for increased knowledge and influence.

Talking with Chronicle.lu, Anne-Marie Reuter stated: "I'm absolutely over the moon. It's a really prestigious award here in Luxembourg. I'm delighted because I spent a lot of time writing this novel; it took seven years to finish it, bt then I'm also delighted for Black Fountain because its the first Servais Prize winner that we now have in our catalogue. Finally, I think it's an extremely prize also for the anglophone community because it's first first time in the Servais Prize history that an English text is awarded this prize, so it's a pleasure on many counts".

At various stages of the evening, musical accompaniment was provided by Sascha Ley, with the formal ceremony and speeches followed by a networking cocktail at the CNL's Literary Café.

The Board of Directors of the Servais Foundation comprises Emmanuel Servais (president), as well as Sousana Eang (treasurer), Jeanne E. Glesener, Nathalie Jacoby, Jo Kox, Alain Meyer and Raymond Weber (members).