London (dpa) – The writer and opera director Jenny Erpenbeck is the first German to receive the International Booker Prize for the English translation of her novel “Kairos”, alongside the translator Michael Hofmann. The prize is endowed with 50,000 pounds (roughly 58,500 euros). Hofmann was the first male translator to receive the prize, which has been awarded since 2016.
The novel is about the love affair between a young female student and a much older married writer during the final years of the GDR in East Berlin. Their relationship, however, which was spurred by their shared love of music and art, breaks down, just as the state around them is in a state of disintegration. What makes the book so unusual is that it is “both beautiful and uncomfortable, personal and political,” according to the judges’ statement. The International Booker Prize for foreign-language works translated into English is one of the most prestigious literary awards.
