Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Thursday 12 November 2026, Luxembourg's Ministry of Culture announced the winners of the 2026 National Literary Competition (Concours littéraire national), dedicated this year to poetry collections written in Luxembourgish, French, German and/or English.
According to the ministry, the competition, launched in October 2025, received 98 submissions in the adult authors' category and 24 submissions in the young authors' category, open to participants aged twelve to nineteen.
The jury, chaired by Pit Hoerold and comprising Claude Bommertz, Sarah Hess, Dana Hempel and Robert Weis, selected four winners across two categories: adult authors and young authors.
The first prize in the adult authors' category went to Jemp Hoscheit for Verieren, accompanied by a €7,500 award and a contribution of up to €5,000 towards publication costs.
The jury praised the collection for its poetic dialogue between two voices, those of a couple exploring shared memories from childhood to grief. It also highlighted the author's mastery of Luxembourgish idiomatic expressions and the way the poems move between everyday experiences, humour and philosophical reflection.
Andrea Murphy received the second prize of €4,000 for Funnily Enough... A Collection of Humorous Verse. The jury commended the collection's combination of satire, humour and literary references, as well as its use of different poetic forms, including limericks, free verse and sonnets. The poems explore everyday and personal experiences through humour and irony.
The third prize of €3,000 went to Lara Well for Mogme. The jury highlighted the collection's distinctive voice and its exploration of personal identity, body image and the pressures of modern society. The poems address feelings of alienation and the search for belonging through a combination of humour, sensitivity and self-reflection.
In the young authors' category, open to participants aged twelve to nineteen, Jayani Baesel won first prize for A Kiwi in a world of domestic chickens.
The jury praised the collection for its exploration of social and cultural belonging, peer pressure and the influence of the digital world. Through different perspectives and poetic forms, including haiku, free verse and a reverse poem, the work addresses questions of identity, acceptance and the struggle to find one's place in society.
Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture Eric Thill welcomed the results, highlighting the competition's role in supporting emerging literary voices while recognising established authors. He expressed hope that the award-winning works would soon be published and reach a wide readership.
The official award ceremony will take place on Thursday 17 December 2026 at 19:30 at the National Literature Centre (Centre national de littérature, CNL) in Mersch.
The 2027 edition of the competition will focus on children's and young adult literature. The call for submissions and competition rules are available on the ministry website.
