Competition
Win one of five bundles including a signed copy of this year’s International Booker Prize winner, Kairos, plus a limited-edition, exclusive Booker Prizes tote bag and bookmark
This competition is now closed
To celebrate this year’s International Booker Prize winner, Kairos, written by Jenny Erpenbeck and translated from German by Michael Hofmann, we are giving you the chance to win a bundle including a signed copy of the novel and a limited-edition, exclusive Booker Prizes tote bag and bookmark.
Kairos was announced as the winner of the International Booker Prize 2024 on May 21, 2024. The novel charts the intimate and devastating story of the path of two lovers through the ruins of a relationship, set against the backdrop of a seismic period in European history.
Berlin. 11 July 1986. They meet by chance on a bus. She is a young student, he is older and married. Theirs is an intense and sudden attraction, fuelled by a shared passion for music and art, and heightened by the secrecy they must maintain. But when she strays for a single night he cannot forgive her and a dangerous crack forms between them, opening up a space for cruelty, punishment and the exertion of power. And the world around them is changing too: as the GDR begins to crumble, so too do all the old certainties and the old loyalties, ushering in a new era whose great gains also involve profound loss.
The Booker Prize tote bags are designed by illustrator Adam Simpson and feature Iris, the Booker Prize trophy. The bags are not available to buy anywhere.
To be in with a chance of winning, simply enter your details below by 12:00 BST on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world.
Exclusive, limited edition Booker Prize tote bag featuring an updated design
What makes Kairos so unusual is that it is both beautiful and uncomfortable, personal and political
‘In luminous prose, Jenny Erpenbeck exposes the complexity of a relationship between a young student and a much older writer, tracking the daily tensions and reversals that mark their intimacy, staying close to the apartments, cafés, and city streets, workplaces and foods of East Berlin. It starts with love and passion, but it’s at least as much about power, art and culture. The self-absorption of the lovers, their descent into a destructive vortex, remains connected to the larger history of East Germany during this period, often meeting history at odd angles.
‘Michael Hofmann’s translation captures the eloquence and eccentricities of Erpenbeck’s writing, the rhythm of its run-on sentences, the expanse of her emotional vocabulary.
‘What makes Kairos so unusual is that it is both beautiful and uncomfortable, personal and political. Erpenbeck invites you to make the connection between these generation-defining political developments and a devastating, even brutal love affair, questioning the nature of destiny and agency. Like the GDR, it starts with optimism and trust, then unravels.’
Jenny Erpenbeck and Michael Hofmann at the International Booker Prize 2024 ceremony at Tate Modern, London
© David Parry/Booker Prize FoundationThis competition is a free draw, with only one entry allowed per person, and we reserve the right to disqualify any entries where we suspect one person has used a number of different email addresses. Use or attempted use of any automated or other non-manual entry methods is prohibited.
The draw is governed by our general rules for competitions, available here, but the following specifics also apply (and take precedence should there be any contradiction or ambiguity):