He has received many awards for his work, among them the aspekte Literature Award, the Kranichstein Literature Award, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Literature Award, the Oldenburg Award for Young Adult Literature, the Herbert Quandt Media Award, Lower Rhine Literature Award, and most recently the German Audio Book Award (for Belgische Riesen). Burkhard Spinnen is Head of the Jury for the prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann Award at the Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur held annually in Klagenfurt, Austria.