Literature prize
June 27, 2010
German author Peter Wawerzinek was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann prize, one of the most important in German literature, at a ceremony in the southern Austrian town of Klagenfurt on Sunday.
The yearly prize is worth 25,000 euros ($30,900). It comes after several days of competition in which selected authors read from their unpublished works.
This time, Berlin-based author Peter Wawerzinek won the prestigious award for an excerpt from his autobiographical book "Rabenliebe."
The 55-year-old Wawerzinek was born in Rostock in former communist East Germany. The book deals with his childhood spent in an orphanage in East Germany after his parents fled to the West.
Wawerzinek's text was also the audience favorite, winning the most online votes for a 7,000-euro people's choice award.
The Ingeborg Bachmann prize is named in honor of the Austrian author, born in Klagenfurt in 1924, and has been awarded by that city since 1977.
Author: Holly Fox (AFP/apn/dpa)
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar