The Swedish Academy awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature and the $1.4 million that accompanies it to Austrian novelist and poet Elfriede Jelinek, the ninth woman to receive the award.
The 57-year-old Jelinek does not have a U.S. publisher, though a U.S. rights deal could come this week. Her books are available from the London publishing house Serpent's Tail and are distributed in the U.S. by Consortium. Learning of the award at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Serpent's Tail publisher Pete Ayrton said it was "fantastic news for a wonderful writer." Ayrton currently has four of her novels in print, all translated by Martin Chalmers from their original German editions published by Rohwolt.
Jelinek is best known in the English-speaking world for the French movie The Piano Teacher, which was adapted from her novel. "That's by far her bestseller for us," Ayrton said, having sold about 20,000 on both sides of the Atlantic. He was particularly pleased by the award because "it will encourage many more people to read her. She's not an easy writer, but she's one with a remarkable vision."
