Die Begründung der Jury
„Pierre Joris’ poetic and essayistic work is an expression of his tireless and versatile exploration of the transcendence of borders in an attempt to achieve a cosmopolitan vision. ‘Routes, not roots’ should therefore be understood as a programmatic title that emphasises the claim of Joris’ ‘nomad poetics’ of moving between languages (English, French, German, Arabic, Luxembourgish), between literatures, and between cultures. In his poetry, he uses the seductive and experimental nature of words to weave a net of surprising juxtapositions of different literary and cultural texts (from the avantgarde, the beat generation, Rilke,
Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot over Maghrebi literature to pop culture), which enables the reader to explore the world from its edges, to stroll through the diaspora, and to feel at home there. Joris’ poetry, which postulates and expects an openness of mind, an agility of thought, and the willingness to deconstruct language, is therefore a modern answer to all forms of ideological curtailment and myopia. Joris is not just a convinced and convincing literary citizen of the world, he also takes his reader on a journey to an in-between, the nomad’s true home.
The linguistic nomad Joris is also a literary ambassador. His translation of Paul Celan’s oeuvre from German into English is monumental. He has also translated from English into French and vice versa. Joris moves between the arts in his domopoetics, a series of collaborations in which he and the artist Nicole Peyrafitte combine literature, performance and visual arts. This makes him a crossover artist, a theorist of nomad art, a wordsmith and an optimistic utopian, who believes in the magic of language and who invigorates it – in times of rising nationalisms, Joris responds to insularity with the affirmation of mutual respect and dialogue.” C.
Die Jury des Prix Batty Weber 2020: Claude D. Conter (Präsident, Leiter des „Centre national de littérature“), Fabienne Gilbertz (Vizepräsidentin, promovierte Literaturwissenschaftlerin), Frank Hoffmann (Leiter des Théâtre national du Luxembourg), Anne Diderich (Präsidentin der „Fédération des libraires“), Luc Marteling (Direktor des Zenter fir d’lëtzebuerger Sprooch), Sébastian Thiltges (promovierter Mitarbeiter des „Institut de langue et de littératures luxembourgeoises“der Universität Luxemburg) und Vesna Andonovic (Journalistin und Leiterin des Lw-kulturressorts).