Margaret Atwood wins Franz Kafka literary prize for lifetime achievement
Prague — Canadian writer, poet and critic Margaret Atwood received the 2017 international Franz Kafka literary prize at a ceremony in Prague on Tuesday, which honoured the lifetime achievements of The Handmaid’s Tale author. "I think this one is quite special because the first free-standing literary essay that I wrote that was not for school was about Franz Kafka, back in the 1950s," Atwood said. "At that time I read not only his biography but all of his work and I remember it very well," she added before receiving the $10,000 prize. "He also of course in retrospect seemed quite prophetic, not only about the Nazi regime, but also about the behaviour of the USSR. "He was suppressed in this country by both of those regimes, so for people interested in freedom of expression and openness in publication, he was an icon at that time," Atwood said. The 77-year-old Atwood’s prolific career, spanning decades, has included the publication of 17 novels, seven children’s books and nearly two do...
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