Eight members of the Award Committee gathered to select the winners of the award, with prize money of €10,000 each, from a field of eight nominees. The nominations came from both Board members and renowned organisations, including Amnesty International, the German PEN Centre, the International Press Institute (IPI), the Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted, and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association.
The deliberations were intense. From the wide field of candidates, four favourites initially emerged as frontrunners. After intensive discussion, the committee reached its decision: this year’s Johann Philipp Palm Award goes to the Russian writer Natalja Kljutscharjowa and the Mauritanian lawyer and author Yahya Ekhou.
Natalja Kljutscharjowa lives in exile in Germany. She is being honoured for her literary works on political persecution in Russia. Through her work, she draws attention to the plight of the people there and gives them a voice. By taking this stance, Kljutscharjowa has accepted considerable personal risks in Russia. In doing so, she fulfils an important criterion for the award of the prize. The Board of Trustees also emphasised her literary skill and her keen insight, which are characterised by a clear moral compass.
Yahya Ekhou receives the award for his commitment to freedom of expression and religious freedom. The Board of Trustees recognises his dedication in societies under religious pressure. In authoritarian contexts, he publicly advocates for criticism of religion, freedom and minority rights – and accepts exclusion and personal risks as a result. The committee highlighted his courage, his dedication and his fight for freedom of expression. Ekhou, a Mauritanian, lives in exile in Germany.
The award ceremony will take place on November 29, 2026, at the Barbara-Künkelin-Halle in Schorndorf.
Award Committee of the Palm Foundation 2026
Members of the Award Committee for the Palm Award
| Name | Role / Position |
|---|---|
| Seyran Ateş | Lawyer, author, women’s rights activist and winner of the 2008 Palm Award. Founder of the liberal Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Berlin |
| Bernd Hornikel | Mayor of the city of Schorndorf |
| Margit Ketterle | Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Freedom of Expression Foundation at the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, Frankfurt am Main |
| Viktoria Kleber | Journalist, filmmaker and media trainer, Berlin |
| Carl-Wilhelm Macke | Freelance journalist and managing director of “Journalists Help Journalists” e. V., Munich |
| Prof. Dr. Ulrich Palm | Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Palm Foundation, Ostfildern |
| Heinrich Riethmüller | Managing Partner of Osiander, Tübingen |
| Prof. Dr. Thomas Schnabel | Former Director of the Baden-Württemberg House of History |