TIRANA, 18 September
Ismail Kadare, the well-known Albanian writer has won the award Pak Kyongni for 2019. In the official announcement made by Kim Uchang, chief of the selective committee, says that the works of Ismail Kadare cause the readers to ponder and feel strongly about their relationships with certain historic events. The ceremony where the Albanian writer is invited to receive the award will take place on Saturday, 26 October 2019, in the Toji Cultural Center in South Korea.
This award is accompanied by a cash prize of $100.000 (or €90.000), making it one of the richest international prizes given in the literature. The selection is done after reviewing 350 writers from all over the world, who fulfill the defined criteria. Since July 2019, the selection committee had compiled a list of the 5 best authors, from which for this year the Albanian writer, born in Gjirokastra was the winner.
The ‘Pak Kyongi’ Prize takes the name from the late South Korean novelist and was created since 2011 from the Toji Cultural Foundation in her honor. The prize honors every year a writer of world literature for the impact that the author had in this field. Last year, in 2018 the American writer, Richard Ford was awarded the same prize, whereas other winners in the past were: Antonio Byatt (UK, 2017), Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya, 2016), Amos Oz (Israel, 2015), Bernhard Schlink (Germany, 2014), Marilynne Robinson (USA, 2013), Ludmila Ulitskaya (Russia, 2012) and Choi In-hun (South Korea, 2011).
Source and Photo Credit/Balkan Web
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