Literature Award
Haruki Murakami receives Asturias Prize
Haruki Murakami is known for his fairytale and surreal novels. photo
© Eugene Hoshiko/AP/dpa
He has long been considered a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But first, Haruki Murakami will be honored with the Princess of Asturias Award.
The Japanese bestselling author Haruki Murakami (74) receives the Spanish Princess of Asturias Prize in the literature category. In a statement, the award jury recognized the “uniqueness of his literature, its universal reach and ability to unite Japanese tradition and the legacy of Western culture.”
The Princess of Asturias Awards are named after the Spanish heir to the throne. They are awarded annually in eight categories and are each endowed with 50,000 euros.
All winners will also receive a sculpture by Joan Miró. Crown Princess Leonor (17) and her father, King Felipe VI. (55), will present the awards in Oviedo at the end of October.
Candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Murakami, who also lived in the USA and Europe for a long time, has been considered a promising contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature for years. He is world-renowned for his fairytale, surreal novels, some of which have been filmed. With “First Person Singular” (2021), “The Chronicles of the Wind-up Bird” (2020) or “The Murder of the Commendatore” (2018) he also had bestsellers in Germany.
The jury of the Princess of Asturias Prize emphasizes that Murakami succeeds in expressing some of the major issues and conflicts of our time: loneliness, existential insecurity, dehumanization in big cities, terrorism – but also personal hygiene or one’s own reflection on creative work .