Juli Zeh is considered one of the brightest of contemporary young writers in the German language. Her first book was Adler und Engel (in English: Eagles and Angels), which won the 2002 Deutscher Bücherpreis (German Book Award) for best debut novel. It was longlisted for the international IMPAC award. The Novel Schilf (2007) was published in 2010 in English translation with two different titles: originally with Havrill Sacker as Dark Matter and with Nan A. Talese as In Free Fall.
She has been awarded a number of prizes including the Rauris Award, Friedrich Hölderlin Award for Emerging Talent, Ernst Toller Award, Per Olov Enquist Award, Prix Cévennes for Best European Novel, and Gerty-Spies-Award.
