Kurdish Writer Wins Germany’s 2026 Book Award

Baziyar, a Kurdish writer who holds German citizenship, has won Germany’s 2026 Book Award for her novel Die Lücken (The Gaps).

Baziyar was born in 1988 in Hermeskeil, Germany. Her parents had emigrated from Ilam Province in Eastern Kurdistan. She studied Creative Writing at the University of Hildesheim.

Die Lücken tells the story of 90 years in a fictional community in the writer’s hometown of Hermeskeil. The novel particularly explores the Nazi era and examines how memories of the deportation and murder of Jewish residents have remained hidden within the community.

Baziyar is already known for her novels Nachts ist es leise in Teheran (It Is Quiet at Night in Tehran) and Drei Kameradinnen (Three Comrades), and has received several literary awards.