tenders
The call for entries for the Susanne Faschon Prize
The Susanne Faschon Prize writing competition is open to all upper secondary school pupils in Rhineland-Palatinate. In exceptional cases and after consultation, pupils in Year 10 may also be admitted. Registration takes place via the schools.
In 2027, we will look back on 20 years of the Donnersberg Literature Days.
Invitations to participate in the 11th DLT 2027 will be sent out in August 2026 to over 480 schools throughout Rhineland-Palatinate.
We support schools in advance upon request with accompanying writing workshops, the aim of which is creative writing and motivation to compose literary texts.
The theme of the DLT 2027 is: "_____".
With this theme, we want to offer ambiguous possibilities for interpretation:
All pupils are invited to the closing event, where the thirteen best texts will be presented and read aloud. The highlight will be the presentation of the Susanne Faschon Prize. It is endowed with €500/€300/€200 for the three best entries and €100 each for the following 10 participants. The chances of winning are therefore better than in almost any other competition.
In addition, the award-winning texts – and a few others – will be published in an anthology.
However, we are not only interested in awarding a prize, but also in sustainability. It has become customary for us to offer the prize winners further reading opportunities afterwards.
We also offer them the opportunity to participate in a regular writing group. This is how the young authors' writing group WortArt came into being.
The winner of the Susanne Faschon Prize also becomes a member of the jury for the next competition
DLT criteria for texts to be submitted
The following rules apply to the submission of entries:
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The author is the sole creator of the work.
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The work has not yet been published in print or online.
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It does not infringe on the rights of third parties.
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The author retains full copyright to his or her entry.
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However, he/she agrees to its possible publication! This will be done free of charge.
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The awarding of a prize is conditional upon the participant presenting his/her text in person at the IGS in Eisenberg (Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 17) in May 2027 (date to be announced).
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In case of illness, a representative must be appointed to read the text aloud.
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Each author may submit one short story or two poems. No further submissions are permitted.
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If the jury suspects that the text was created using AI, the entry will be disqualified.
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The submitted text must be sent in five copies on white A4 paper and should not exceed 10,000 characters for short stories or 2 pages of A4 for poems.
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The text must also be submitted in a common word processing programme (Open Office or Word only!): no PDFs!
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The awarding of prizes and the selection of short stories and poems is final and no legal recourse is possible.
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The author fully accepts the conditions of participation.
The text must be submitted in writing and anonymised in the following format:
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First line: Title
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Second line: Initials consisting of the first letters of the surname and first name; then a space; followed by the date of birth in 6 digits
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Example: Hans Klein, * 2.09.2010 = KH 020910 (Please note: initials reversed!)
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The submitted text must be submitted in five copies on white A4 paper and should not exceed 10,000 characters for short stories or 2 A4 pages for poems.
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At the same time, the school is asked to enclose a list of participating pupils. The template for this list will be sent to you by email after registration (see contact details). Enquiries can be answered by telephone (see legal notice) or by email.
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A further list must be provided with a declaration that the text was written by the pupil themselves.
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Important information
The deadline for submissions is the 10th of February 2027. The date of the postmark will be considered the date of submission.
Each school may submit a maximum of ten students! This prevents attempts to have an entire school class write on the topic. Exceptions are to be discussed.
Authors who have already participated in previous DLTs may apply again. If there are prize winners (1st-3rd prize) among them, they can no longer achieve this placement (only from 4th place onwards).
The authors of the best works (13 in total) will be invited to present their texts during the DLT.
The prizes
1st prize . . . . . . . €500 (Susanne Faschon Prize)
2nd prize . . . . . . €300
3rd prize. . . . . . €200
4th–13th place . . €100
The prize for the most literary and creative school
TIn addition to the Susanne Faschon Prize, we are offering a prize for the most literary and creative school in Rhineland-Palatinate. The prize is worth €200 and includes a free writing workshop or reading with a well-known author for the school. The author will be nominated and sponsored by the Friedrich Bödecker Circle. If schools achieve the same score, the prize money will be shared. However, every school will benefit from the writing workshop.
The following factors are included in the evaluation:
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Each school that submits at least five texts (i.e. by five authors) receives 2.5 points.
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The winner of the Susanne Faschon Prize is awarded three points.
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The runner-up will receive 2.5 points and the third-placed entrant will receive 2 points.
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Each additional pupil who makes it into the final 13 authors, whom we call the "readers", i.e. those who present their texts publicly to the audience, will receive 1 point.
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The school that organises a writing workshop between the 2024 summer holidays and the deadline for participants to submit their entries for the 2025 DLT will receive 2.5 points. It does not matter whether the school organised this itself or contacted us.
Teachers will be happy to be informed by e-mail on request: Post@DLVerein.de.
If your school would like to participate in the 11th DLT, we would appreciate it if you could let us know by 22nd November 2026. However, this does not oblige you to actually submit any student texts. Every school can also apply later. However, it helps us greatly with our planning!