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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

               MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

Philip Roth
  Philip Roth,one of America's most prolific and controversial novelists,was on Tuesday named winner of the Rs60,000 Man Booker International Prize awarded every two years for a body of work published either originally in English or widely available in English translation. He beat a formidable line up of 12 contenders that included Rohinton Mistry and John Le Carre. Roth (78) is best-known for his novel" Portnoy's Complaint" and for his late-1990s trilogy comprising" American Pastoral" which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998. Judges praised him for his"imagination"and especially the way he had dealt with the notion of Jewish identity in his novels.
  " His imagination has not only recast our idea of Jewish identity,It has also reanimated fiction, generally" said the Chair of the judging panel, Rick Gekoski,well known American writer and broadcaster. Describing Roth's career as an astonishing achievement" he said; ' His career is remarkable in that he starts at such a high level, and keeps getting better, In his 50s and 60s,when most novelists are in decline, he wrote a string of novels of the highest, enduring quality, Indeed,his most recent,Nemesis(2010), is as fresh,memorable,and alive with feeling anything he has written. His is an astonishing achievement."
   Ina brief statement,Roth said he hoped the award would bring him to the attention of those who were not familiar with his work." One of the particular pleasures I've has as a writer is to have my work read despite all the heartaches of translation that entails.I hope the prize will bring me to the attention of readers around the world who are not familiar with my work. This is a great honour and I'am delighted to receive it" he said. Previous winners include Ismail Kadare,Chinua Achebe and AliceMunro.


                                                                                                            Prof. John Kurakar

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