Previous award winners:

• 2018 Gioconda Belli (Hermann Kesten-Preis)
  Laudation by Hermann Schulz
  Acceptance Speech by Gioconda Belli
• 2018 „Direkt36“ (Hermann Kesten-Förderpreis)
  Laudation by Cathrin Kahlweit
  Acceptance Speech by András Pethő and Gergő Sáling, „Direkt36“
• 2017 Thomas B. Schumann (Hermann Kesten-Preis)
  Laudation by Georg Stefan Troller
  Acceptance Speech by Thomas B. Schumann
• 2016 Translate for Justice (Hermann Kesten-Förderpreis)
  Laudation by Hans Thill
• 2015 Madjid Mohit (Hermann Kesten-Preis)
  Laudation by Inge Buck
  Acceptance Speech by Madjid Mohit
• 2015 Gefangenes Wort e.V. (Hermann Kesten-Förderpreis)
  Laudation by Katja Behrens
• 2014 Wolfgang Kaleck
  Address by Josef Haslinger, Präsident of the German PEN Centre
  Laudation by Gerhart Baum, Bundesminister a.D.
  Acceptance Speech by Wolfgang Kaleck
• 2013 Index on Censorship
  Address by Josef Haslinger, Präsident of the German PEN Centre
  Laudation by Irina Khalip
  Acceptance Speech by Index on Censorship
• 2012 Irina Khalip
• 2011 Mohamed Hashem
• 2010 Liu Xiaobo
• 2009 Baltasar Garzón
• 2008 Memorial
• 2007 Agos
• 2006 Leonie Ossowski
• 2005 Journaliste en danger (JED)
• 2004 Bunt statt Braun Anklam e.V.
• 2003 Anna Politkovskaja
• 2002 Sumaya Farhat-Naser und Gila Svirsky
• 2001 Harold Pinter
• 2000 Nenad Popovic
• 1999 Alexander Tkatschenko
• 1998 Hermann Schulz
• 1997 SAID
• 1996 Victor Pfaff
• 1995 Günter Grass
• 1994 Carola Stern
• 1993 Johannes Mario Simmel
• 1991 Christa Bremer
• 1989 Angelika Mechtel
• 1987 Kathleen von Simson
• 1985 Bischof Helmut Frentz