In April 2019, the THEO Prize for Young Literature was awarded for the twelfth time at the Red City Hall in Berlin, chaired by Anke Stelling and Karla Montasser. The competition, themed "Before the Storm," was open to children and teenagers from around the world. Prizes were awarded in various age categories for prose and poetry – and for the first time this year, in the category of Language Spaces. In 2019, there were over 650 submissions, and the authors of the most promising texts were invited to a joint workshop weekend. Among them were three poets from The Poetry Project: Shahzamir Hataki with his poem "The Only Son" about his journey across the sea, Robina Karimi with "Violence and Pride" about the role of women in Afghanistan, and Rojin Namer with her text "Damascus" about her hometown. In addition to five other texts, including a charming story by ten-year-old Anna Lena Gabriel about Susi Starfish, Fita Fish, and Momo Mussel, and the text hybrid "Substantiation of a Relationship Before the Storm" by the talented Lotti Spieler, the texts by Shahzamir and Rojin were awarded in the categories of Poetry and Language Spaces. We are very happy for the winners and thank the Schreibende Schüler and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels for their unwavering dedication!