Austrian Author Wins Nobel Prize for Literature

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The New York Sun

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet Elfriede Jelinek has won the Nobel Prize in literature. In announcing the award yesterday, the Swedish Academy praised her “musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays “that portray “the absurdity of society’s cliches and their subjugating power.”


Ms. Jelinek is the first woman to receive the literature prize, worth about $1.3 million, since it was given to Wislawa Szymborska of Poland in 1996. Only 10 women have won it in the 103-year history of the prize.


Ms. Jelinek’s most famous novel, “Die Klavierspielerin” (“The Piano Teacher”) was adapted into a 2001 film that starred Isabelle Huppert. Other works, such as “Lust,” are well known in German-speaking countries and widely translated in French. A few of her books have been released in English by London-based publisher Serpent’s Tail.


In an interview yesterday with the Associated Press in Vienna, Ms. Jelinek said that she would not make the December 10 ceremony in Stockholm because she suffers from “a social phobia.” Although happy about the prize, she said she “can’t stand” the attention that will come with it. With her phone and doorbell constantly ringing, Ms. Jelinek said her plans for the coming days were simply “to disappear.”


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