They've announced (only in German, so far) that Abbas Khider has won the biennial literary prize of the city Dortmund, the Nelly-Sachs-Preis.
Worth €15,000 this prize has an impressive list of winners. Thrice they gave it to a writer who would go on to win the Nobel Prize a few years later: namesake Nelly Sachs in 1961, five years before her Nobel; Elias Canetti in 1975, six before his; Nadine Gordimer in 1985, six years before hers. Since then the winners' roll has included: Milan Kundera (1987), Juan Goytisolo (1993), Javier Marías (1997), Christa Wolf (1999), Per Olov Enquist (2003), Aharon Appelfeld (2005), Margaret Atwood (2009), and, most recently, Norman Manea (2011).
So Abbas Khider is in damn good company. And who is Abbas Khider ? Well, a German-writing Iraqi-born (in 1973) author; see also his official site.
Fortunately, English-speaking readers should have an opportunity to read some of his work soon: Seagull is bringing out, or has, The Village Indian; see their publicity page, or get your copy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Worth €15,000 this prize has an impressive list of winners. Thrice they gave it to a writer who would go on to win the Nobel Prize a few years later: namesake Nelly Sachs in 1961, five years before her Nobel; Elias Canetti in 1975, six before his; Nadine Gordimer in 1985, six years before hers. Since then the winners' roll has included: Milan Kundera (1987), Juan Goytisolo (1993), Javier Marías (1997), Christa Wolf (1999), Per Olov Enquist (2003), Aharon Appelfeld (2005), Margaret Atwood (2009), and, most recently, Norman Manea (2011).
So Abbas Khider is in damn good company. And who is Abbas Khider ? Well, a German-writing Iraqi-born (in 1973) author; see also his official site.
Fortunately, English-speaking readers should have an opportunity to read some of his work soon: Seagull is bringing out, or has, The Village Indian; see their publicity page, or get your copy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.