Germany’s Jenny Erpenbeck wins International Booker Prize for Kairos, the tale of a tangled love affair
- The novel, translated by Michael Hofmann, depicts the relationship between a student and an older writer in the days leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall
- Hofmann’s translation was praised for capturing the ‘eloquence and eccentricities’ of Erpenbeck’s prose
German author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the International Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday for Kairos, the story of a tangled love affair during the final years of East Germany’s existence.
The novel beat five other finalists, chosen from 149 submitted novels, for the prize, which recognises fiction from around the world that has been translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. The £50,000 (US$64,000) in prize money is divided between author and translator.
Canadian broadcaster Eleanor Wachtel, who chaired the five-member judging panel, said Erpenbeck’s novel about the relationship between a student and an older writer is “a richly textured evocation of a tormented love affair, the entanglement of personal and national transformations”.
It is set in the dying days of the German Democratic Republic, leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Erpenbeck, 57, was born and raised in East Berlin, which was part of East Germany until the country disappeared with German reunification in 1990.
“Like the GDR, [the book] starts with optimism and trust, then unravels so badly,” Wachtel said.