Sarah Elena Müller has been awarded the 19th Swiss Book Prize for *Unwucht*
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The 2026 Swiss Book Prize has been awarded to the Bern-based author Sarah Elena Müller in recognition of her novel Unwucht.
The announcement was made at the BuchBasel literature festival, held at the local theatre.
Jurors said that Müller employs language and poetic devices “with impressive agility and versatility”. The novel is about a fateful love affair.
The first-person narrator, Alice, has fallen in love with Rio, a drug addict. The two were together for seven years. Another seven years later, Alice recounts this relationship.
The novel thus unfolds across two time frames, offers an insight into the relationship and also explores the question of who actually holds the authority to interpret a story.
“A sophisticated narrative structure,” said the jury. Unwucht strikes a balance between lightness and unease and impresses “with its idiosyncratic imagery, incisive sentences and irreverent humour”.
Müller had already been nominated for the book prize once before in 2023, at that time for Bild ohne Mädchen. She has now prevailed over four other nominees: Lukas Bärfuss with Königin der Nacht, Hayat Erdoğan with Hauptsache kein Zeitgeist, Yael Inokai with Die Auster and Sonja Sophie Kries with Das grosse Eis.
The winner of the book prize receives CHF30,000 while other nominees each receive CHF3,000. A total of 87 books were submitted by 52 publishers for this year’s Swiss Book Prize.
The prize was established in 2008 by the LiteraturBasel association and the Swiss Booksellers’ and Publishers’ Association.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
