Life

Nobel Prize for Literature to German-Romanian Writer

By Dan Friedman October 8, 2009

Herta Mueller, a member of Romania’s German minority living in exile in Germany has won this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. Her father served in the Waffen SS in World War II but her work has dealt with the harshness of life under postwar communism, leading her work to be banned in Romania.

Earlier in October, in an unprecedented double for women with the initials H and M, Hilary Mantel won the Man Booker Prize for her novel “Wolf Hall.”

Dan Friedman is the former executive editor and whisky correspondent of the Forward, and is the author of a book about Tears for Fears, the ’80s emo rock band.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO