Awards: The Nobel, Man Booker, Thurber & '5 Under 35'

2009 Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded to Herta Mueller

Herta Mueller, 2007

On October 8, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2009 to German author Herta Mueller, who "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed." The announcement was made by Professor Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the academy, who noted that Mueller's uniqueness comes from the double experience of being part of a minority language while being under an oppressed society.

Mueller was born on August 17, 1953, in the German-speaking town Nitzkydorf in Banat, Romania. Her mother was among the many German Romanians sent to the Soviet Union in 1945. In Atemschaukel (2009), Mueller writes about the exile of the German Romanians in the Soviet Union. In 1982, Mueller published her debut, a collection of short stories Niederungen. In 1984, she published Drueckender Tango in Romania.

The Swedish Academy listed her works in English as:

• The Passport, translated by Martin Chalmers (London: Serpent's Tail, 1989).Translation of Der Mensch ist ein grober Fasan auf der Welt
• The Land of Green Plums, translated by Michael Hofmann (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996). Translation of Herztier
• Traveling on One Leg, translated from the German by Valentina Glajar and Andre Lefevere (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1998). Translation of Reisende auf einem Bein
• The Appointment, translated by Michael Hulse and Philip Boehm (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001). Translation of Heute war ich mir lieber nicht begegnet

Hilary Mantel Wins Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Hilary Mantel photo: Sarah Lee

On October 6, Hilary Mantel was named the winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction for Wolf Hall.

Set in the 1520s, Wolf Hall tells the story of Thomas Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court. Mantel has been praised by critics for writing "a rich, absorbingly readable historical novel."

Wolf Hall was chosen from a shortlist of six titles, including works by. A.S. Byatt, J.M. Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer, and Sarah Waters.

Ian Frazier Wins Thurber Prize

Ian Frazier

On October 5, at the Algonquin Hotel, Ian Frazier was named the winner of the 2009 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his book, Lamentations of the Father. The annual prize is presented by Thurber House, the national literary center for writers and readers, based in the boyhood home of author, humorist and New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber in Columbus, Ohio. Former Thurber Prize and multiple Emmy Award winner Alan Zweibel, a 2009 Thurber Prize judge, served as emcee for the evening.

Frazier is the author of nine books and a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. His Coyote vs. Acme won the first Thurber Prize for American Humor in 1997.

National Book Foundation Celebrates "5 Under 35"

Five young fiction writers will be recognized by the National Book Foundation at the "5 Under 35" celebration at PowerHouse Arena in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn on Monday, November 16. "5 Under 35 is a celebration of emerging talent and the perfect way to kick off National Book Awards Week," said Harold Augenbraum, the executive director of the National Book Foundation.

The 2009 "5 Under 35" are:

• Ceridwen Dovey, Blood Kin, (Viking, 2008)
• C.E. Morgan, All the Living (FSG, 2009)
• Lydia Peelle, Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing (HarperCollins, 2009)
• Karen Russell, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (Vintage, 2006)
• Josh Weil, The New Valley (Grove Press, 2009)

The event's emcee will be musician, novelist, and publisher Richard Hell, founder of the seminal punk band Richard Hell & the Voidoids. The evening's DJ will be novelist, essayist, and MacArthur fellow Jonathan Lethem.