Nobel Prizes In Literature For 2018, 2019

 Nobel Prizes in Literature for 2018, 2019

The Swedish Academy announced on Thursday the Nobel Prizes in literature for 2018 and 2019, which were awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk and Austrian novelist Peter Handke, respectivel

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2019) The Swedish Academy announced on Thursday the Nobel Prizes in literature for 2018 and 2019, which were awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk and Austrian novelist Peter Handke, respectively.

Tokarczuk was born in the Polish city of Sulechow on January 29, 1962.

She graduated from the University of Warsaw, where she received a degree in psychology and then worked as a therapist. She made her debut as a writer in 1979 with a number of stories published in the Na Przelaj magazine under the pseudonym Natasza Borowin.

Tokarczuk published her first novel, "The Journey of the Book-People" (Podroz ludzi Ksiegi), in 1993. The book was awarded the Polish Publisher's Prize for the best debut.

Tokarczuk's second novel named "From E.E." was published in 1995, and the third one, "Primeval and Other Times" (Prawiek i inne czasy), came out a year later.

The novel "House of Day, House of Night" (Dom dzienny, dom nocny), which was published in 1998, became the finalist of the Dublin Literary Award. Her next book, "The Wardrobe" (Szafa), came out in the same year.

In 2001, a collection of 19 short stories entitled "Playing on Many Drums" (Gra na wielu bebenkach) was published, and in 2004 "The Last Stories" (Ostatnie historie) came out.

Tokarczuk's book "Anna in the Tombs of the World" (Anna In w grobowcach swiata) saw the light of day in 2006, and the novel "Flights" (Bieguni), which was highly praised by professionals, was published a year later. "Flights" was nominated for the Angelus Central European Literature Award, and, in 2018, Tokarczuk was awarded the International Booker Prize for this novel. She became the first-ever Polish writer to receive this award.

Her next novel entitled "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" (Prowadz swoj plug przez kosci umarlych) won the Man Booker International Prize in 2019.

Tokarczuk is the author of a number of other books, including "The Moment of the Bear" (Moment niedźwiedzia), "Jacob's Scriptures" (Ksi�gi Jakubowe) and "Professor Andrews Goes to Warsaw" (Profesor Andrews w Warszawie).

Tokarczuk is considered one of the most major figures in modern Polish literature; critics attribute the writer to representatives of the so-called young prose of the 1990s. She repeatedly won Poland's non-governmental literary prize, the Nike Award. Her books have been translated into many languages.

On October 10, 2019, Tokarczuk was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature "for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life."

Handke is an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet, and essayist. He was born in the Austrian town of Griffen on December 6, 1942.

From 1961 to 1965 he studied law at the University of Graz.

His debut novel "The Hornets" (Hornissen) was published in 1966. Handke wrote his next novel, "Kaspar" (1968), in the same style as his first one � neo-avantgardism.

Later, the writer switched to a realistic style, revealing the tragedy of human loneliness in the modern world. The novels "A Sorrow Beyond Dreams" (Wunschloses Ungluck, 1972) and "Short Letter, Long Farewell" (Der kurze Brief zum langen Abschied, 1972) are written in the same manner.

Handke became famous for his novel "The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick" (Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter, 1970). In 1971, it was adapted into a film, directed by Wim Wenders.

The author and the film director continued to work together. Handke wrote scripts for "The Wrong Move" (Falsche Bewegung, 1975), and co-wrote the screenplay for "Wings of Desire" (Der Himmel uber Berlin, 1987), and "The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez" (Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez, 2016).

In subsequent years, Handke wrote a number of other books, including "The Left-Handed Woman" (Die linkshandige Frau, 1976), "Child Story" (Kindergeschichte, 1981), "My Year in the No-Man's-Bay" (Mein Jahr in der Niemandsbucht, 1994), and "The Great Fall" (Der grosse Fall, 2011).

The writer is also known as the author of short stories, essays, autobiographical works, and poems.

In the 1990s, Handke tried his hand at directing films: "Absence" (1992) and "The Left-Handed Woman" (1994).

After the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the writer personally visited the Balkans to form his own opinion about the events. His book "A Journey to the Rivers, or, Justice for Serbia," in which Handke described his impressions and observations, was published in 1996. Handke supported the Serbian people, and that led to a public denouncement in Germany, so the writer had to move to France.

On October 10, 2019, Handke was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience."

Among the numerous awards received by Handke are: the Georg Buchner Prize, Franz Kafka Prize and the International Ibsen Award.

In 2006, he was awarded the Heinrich Heine prize but turned it down as it provoked outrage among Germany's left circles because of Handke's sympathy for the Serbs and former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Handke was married twice and has two children.