In 1997, the George Konell Award and the George Konell Prize were established in memory of the writer George Konell on the initiative of his widow Ilse Konell (1919-2012). It is awarded every two years by the Cultural Office to young authors for a selected prose text and is endowed with €500. Particular importance is attached to a confident and sensitive use of the German language; there are no content requirements. Previous winners were: 1997 Bernd Beber, 2001 Janina Schmidt, 2003 Nele Prinz, 2005 Nicolas Jacobs, 2007 Mila Hosny, 2009 Anja Lobbenmeier, 2011 Katharina Korbach, 2013 Arian Abdollahie and 2015 Luise Heyde-Schulte (the prize was not awarded in 1999).