Volha Hapeyeva Wins Prestigious Brothers Grimm Prize of Hanau, Germany

Reform.news Editorial Team · 29 September 2026, 20:36

https://reform.news/en/volha-hapeyeva-wins-prestigious-brothers-grimm-prize-of-hanau-germany/

Volha Hapeyeva has received the Brothers Grimm Literary Prize of the City of Hanau. The award ceremony will take place on November 16 at a cultural forum in the German city.

The prize is awarded for an outstanding work of prose, poetry or drama written in German. Hapeyeva was recognized for her book *Wörterbuch einer Nomadin* (*Dictionary of a Nomad*), in which she explores the complex relationship between language and belonging.

In its statement, the jury emphasized that Hapeyeva’s literary essays convey a sense of being separated from one’s homeland and finding stability through constant movement. Born in Minsk in 1982, the writer has been unable to return to her hometown since 2020 for political reasons.

In the jury’s view, Hapeyeva builds a “house of language” from blocks of different languages—a home founded on a Europe aware of both its potential and its shortcomings. With her *Dictionary of a Nomad*, the author demonstrates how language can foster critical thinking while also becoming a safe refuge.

Volha Hapeyeva lives and works in Austria and Germany. She has been writing in German since 2020.