News Feature

Croatian author up for Man Booker Prize

19 March 2009

A prominent Croatian author has been nominated for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize 2009.

Dubravka Ugresic will face off against other esteemed authors such as the UK's James Kelman and Kenya's Ngugi Wa Thiong'O for the award, which recognises the winning writer's contribution to world literature.

Ms Ugresic's popularity outside of her homeland is illustrated by the translation of several of her works, including 2007's Nobody's Home, into English.

Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and chair of the judges, commented: "We've all read books by authors we had never heard of before and they have turned out to be some of the best book we've ever read.

"It makes me wonder who else is out there untranslated into English."

Born in Kutina in 1949, Ms Ugresic is perhaps best-known for her novel Steffie in the Jaws of Life, which was later adapted into a full-length film in her native Croatia.

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