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Teju Cole’s Open City has won the fifth annual International Literature Award – Haus der Kulturen der Welt, along with Christine Richter-Nilsson who translated the book into German.
Cole receives €25 000 and Richter-Nilsson receives €10 000. The judges commented that “Cole’s finely honed, rhythmic prose generates a vortex that grips and subsumes the reader” and that “Richter-Nilsson’s translation captures the novel’s musicality, the overlaid voices and the moods of the metropolitan flâneur with linguistic elegance”.
The award ceremony at Haus der Kulturen der Welt will be held on 12 June and will follow the “Long Night of the Short List”, which includes readings and discussions with the shortlisted authors and translators. Mircea Cărtărescu won the award last year for his novel Der Körper, along with the two co-translators, Gerhardt Csejka and Ferdinand Leopold.
The International Literature Award – Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2013 goes to the Nigerian-American writer Teju Cole for his novel Open City (Suhrkamp 2012) and to Christine Richter-Nilsson for the book’s first translation into German.
The author receives 25,000 euro and the translator 10,000 euro. It’s the fifth time the prize is being awarded. For the first time, the award ceremony (12 June) will also be accompanied by a “Long Night of the Short List,” in which the nominated writers and translators will be introduced in readings and discussions.
Book details
- Open City by Teju Cole
EAN: 9780571279432
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Image courtesy Lavin