The winner of the fiction section of the Leipzig Book Prize could be a collection of poetry. Steffen Popp's "118 Gedichte" (118 poems) was nominated on Thursday, along with works by four novelists, including Lukas Bärfuss, Brigitte Kronauer, Anne Weber and Natascha Wodin.

"In the fiction category in particular, it was a challenge to agree on five convincing titles. But I think we've found a good mix," jury president and literary critic Kristina Maidt-Zinke told German news agency dpa.

The award, considered the most prestigious in Germany after the German Book Prize, is divided into three categories: fiction, non-fiction/essays and translation.

The nominees for non-fiction/essays include Leonhard Horowski, Klaus Reichert, Jörg Später, Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger and Volker Weiss. Holger Fock, Sabine Müller, Gregor Hens, Gabriele Leupold, Eva Lüdi Kong and Petra Strien meanwhile made the shortlist for their translations.

The award was created in 2005 and is awarded yearly at the Leipzig Book Fair, held this year from March 23-26. The three awards are endowed with a total of 60,000 euros ($63,000).

kbm/ss (dpa, epd)