Herta Muller wins 2009 Nobel for literature
08 Oct 2009
The Royal Swedish Academy has chosen Romanian-born German novelist, poet and essayist Herta Mueller for the award of this year's Nobel Prize in Litearture.
"The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2009 is awarded to the German author Herta Müller "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed," the awards committee said in a release.
Muller is noted for her works depicting the harsh conditions of life in Romania under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. She becomes the 12th woman to have won the Nobel since it launched in 1901.
The prize, including 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) in cash and a citation will be presented to her on 10 December in the Swedish capital.
There were speculations of a poet winning the prestigious award and the announcement comes as a surprise for littérateurs.
Mueller is the 106th winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature; last year French novelist JMG Le Clézio won the Literature Nobel for his "new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy", and for exploring "a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization".
