Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk has been awarded the prestigious Man Booker International prize in London. The jury have selected her book "Flights" ("Bieguni" - original Polish title) translated to English by Jennifer Croft from among the six shortlisted titles.
The Man Booker International prize is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK.
The main prize is 50.000 pounds to share between the writer and the translator.
Two former laureates of the prize were also nominated this year, South Korea’s Han Kang and Hungary’s László Krasznahorkai.
Tokarczuk and Croft were presented with their awards on Tuesday night at a ceremony in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
Living creation
In a short speech, Tokarczuk paid respects mainly to her translator and emphasised that "it's incredible to be able to work together with someone who shows such a great dedication and determination in search for publishers."
She also stressed that although she has become the first Polish writer to win the Booker prize, she does not believe in national literature. "I treat literature as a living creation that appears in one language and can later be translated into another which is another miracle."
In the end of her speech, Olga Tokarczuk mentioned the earings she was wearing at the ceremony. She bought them in 1987 when she was a student and worked part-time as a housekeeper in one of the elegant hotels in London. "Now I'm wearing them as a Man Booker International prize laureate," she added proudly.
Wit, imagination and panache
The chair of the jury, Lisa Appignanesi said that "Tokarczuk is a writer of wonderful wit, imagination and literary panache".
"We loved the voice of the narrative. It’s one that moves from wit and gleeful mischief to real emotional texture and has the ability to create character very quickly, with interesting digression and speculation," she added.
Lisa Appignanesi also said: "We really felt this is a prize that has an interventionist quality, it allows writers to be better known in Britain and in the English language, than they have been previously".
"Flights" have been published in the UK by Fitzcarraldo Edition. This is one of the most popular books by Olga Tokarczuk and has won her the Nike Award, known as the Polish Booker in 2008.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24, PAP