Nobel literature laureate Peter Handke says he's "astonished" at being picked for the 2019 award. He tells reporters at his home outside Paris that "I need to carry on as if none of this had happened."

French literature appeals to a growing readership abroad

Shirin Ebadi, the exiled Iranian lawyer and human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, speaks to FRANCE 24 about the deadly protests in Iran over the past two weeks. According to the NGO Amnesty International, at least 208 demonstrators have been killed in the crackdown, the highest death toll since the 1979 revolution.

The mother of modern African literature

The novel Efuru established Nigerian author Flora Nwapa as the first African woman to publish a book in English. Her work set the stage for the emergence of female writers in Nigeria and other African countries.

The novel Efuru established Nigerian author Flora Nwapa as the first African woman to publish a book in English. Her work set the stage for the emergence of female writers in Nigeria and other African countries.

Belarus investigators summoned Nobel Literature Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich for questioning over her ties to an opposition group. Meanwhile, authorities have arrest protest leaders demanding the president's ouster.

The Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to US poet Louise Glück for her "unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

French author Hervé Le Tellier has been awarded the Goncourt Prize for his novel "L'Anomalie" (The Anomaly), APA reports citing France 24. France's top literary honour was attributed by videolink owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Le Tellier, 63, is a mathematician by training and former journalist.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, discussed the country’s state of literature, religious practices, commercialization of arts and culture.

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature for his works exploring the effects of colonialism and the experiences of refugees.

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, 72, won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature for his writing on the “effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee," the award-giving body said on Thursday. Born in 1948 on the island of Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania, Gurnah moved to Britain as a young refugee in 1968.