Abdulrazak Gurnah (TZ/UK) in conversation with Carsten Jensen
Meet Abdulrazak Gurnah for a conversation about the authorship that awarded him the Nobel Prize, the world's most prestigious literary prize, in 2021.
It is with great pleasure that we at International Authors' Stage once again have the opportunity to present a current laureate of the world's most distinguished literature prize, the Nobel Prize. The Tanzanian-born British author Abdulrazak Gurnah received the 2021 Nobel Prize for "his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents."
Colonialism is a major focus in Gurnah's novels, and his writing has given an insight into a world where war and misery forces many to flee, and where living in exile becomes a condition for many. In May, Gurnah's latest book Afterlife was published to the Danish audience by Gutkind. Afterlife is a story about the imprints that colonialism leaves, both on the individual and on the world as such.
Earlier this year, the novel Paradise was published in a revised translation.
Book signing and wine bar
After the event there will be a book signing with the author in the shop and the opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine in the café.
Abdulrazak Gurnah
Abdulrazak Gurnah has written ten novels, of which Paradise and By the Sea were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He is Professor Emeritus, and professor of English and postcolonial literature at Kent's School of English.
Gurnah was born in Zanzibar and came to England as an 18-year-old refugee after the Zanzibar Revolution. He describes himself as from Zanzibar.
Carsten Jensen
Carsten Jensen is the author of numerous novels, essays, articles and travel books. Many Danish readers know Jensen from novels such as Vi, de druknede (We, the Drowned, 2006), for which he won the P2 Novel Prize and the Danske Bank Literature Prize, and Den første sten (2015), which has been translated into a number of languages.
