Agence France Presse
June 22 2005
German book trade to honour outspoken Turkish author
Wed Jun 22,10:33 AM ET
FRANKFURT (AFP) – Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk will receive the
German book trade’s prestigious peace prize this year, the German
Publishers and Booksellers Association said on Wednesday.
Pamuk is to accept the 25,000-euro (30,400-dollar) award at the
Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest literary salon, on October
23.
Announcing its decision, the prize jury said Pamuk had a unique
ability to bridge cultures.
“In Orhan Pamuk, we are honouring an author who like no other writer
of our time, explores the historical footprints of the West in the
East and the East in the West,” it said.
“He is committed to a concept of culture based on knowledge and
respect for others. Pamuk has created a genre in which Europe and
Islamic Turkey co-exist.”
Pamuk, who lives in Istanbul, is known internationally for novels
such as “My Name is Red”, “The New Life”, “The White Castle” “The
Black Book” and most recently “Snow”.
His works have been translated into 20 languages.
Set in 16th century Istanbul in the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat
III, “My Name is Red” is a meditation on tensions between East and
West.
Pamuk is no stranger to political controversy. Earlier this year, he
angered nationalists in Turkey by publicly addressing the highly
sensitive subject of the massacre of Armenians in World War I.
In an interview with a Swiss newspaper, he said that “30,000 Kurds
and one million Armenians were killed in Turkey.”
One local official ordered the seizure and destruction of his works.
The Peace Prize is one of the highest distinctions in German
literature.
It is presented each year by the Association of German Publishers and
Booksellers at the close of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Past winners of the prize, now in its 56th year, include the late US
writer Susan Sontag and Hungarian novelist Peter Esterhazy.