Ian McEwan to Recieve Jerusalem Prize

Image by Annalena McAfee

By Nathan Burstein January 18, 2011

Israel will give its highest literary honor next month to Ian McEwan, the English author behind books including “Atonement” and “Saturday.”

A winner of the Man Booker Prize for his 1998 novel “Amsterdam,” McEwan will accept his latest honor, the Jerusalem Prize, at the start of the Jerusalem International Book Fair on February 20.

Given biannually to a foreign writer who “expresses and promotes the idea of the ‘freedom of the individual in society,’ ” the prize comes with what organizers describe as a “modest,” “symbolic” cash award of $10,000.

Since it was first given to Bertrand Russell in 1963, the prize has gone to an impressive array of literary stars, among them Simone de Beauvoir, Milan Kundera, V.S. Naipaul and Arthur Miller.

The most recent winner of the Jerusalem Prize, Haruki Murakami, received the honor in 2009 from Israeli President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO