(Vienna, 24 May 2023) Anna Felnhofer, a scientist and clinical psychologist at MedUni Vienna's Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, has been invited to take part in the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize 2023 at the "47th Days of German-Language Literature" in Klagenfurt as one of 14 authors.
The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize was established by the city of Klagenfurt in 1976 in memory of the writer Ingeborg Bachmann and has been awarded annually since 1977 during the multi-day festival of German-Language Literature. It is considered one of the most important literary awards in the German-speaking world.
Anna Felnhofer works as a scientist (postdoctoral researcher) and clinical psychologist at the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at MedUni Vienna. She is the founder and director of the Pediatric Virtual Reality Laboratory, which is dedicated to researching human experiences and behaviours in fully immersive virtual realities (VR). In this context, she develops innovative VR-based interventions for use in clinical settings, e.g. for pain and stress reduction during surgery, as well as for the therapy of stress-associated disorders. She is also involved in the prevention and therapy of problematic media use in children and adolescents. In addition to founding and (co-)editing the international scientific journal Digital Psychology, her scientific work includes numerous publications in international peer-reviewed journals as well as the editing of four (teaching) books (UTB, BELTZ).
Parallel to this, she publishes stories and short prose in various literary magazines, including Podium, Sterz, Am Erker, Konzepte and Lichtungen. In 2018 she landed on the shortlist of the FM4 Wortlaut short story competition with the text "Parallaxe", and in 2020 she won the Emil-Breisach Literature Prize of the Graz Academy (2nd place, prize of Energie Steiermark AG) with the story "Quantenschaum". Her debut novel "Schnittbild" was published by Luftschacht Verlag in 2021 (2nd edition March 2023); in four interrelated episodes, it deals with crossings professional boundaries in psychotherapy. The debut "Schnittbild" received the Book Prize of the City of Vienna, was awarded the Franz Tumler Literature Prize 2021 for the best German-language debut and was nominated for the shortlist of the Austrian Book Prize Debut 2021.
At the 47th Days of German-Language Literature (Bachmann Prize) from 28 June to 2 July 2023, she will read at the invitation of jury member Brigitte Schwens-Harrant.