Abdulrazak Gurnah (TZ-UK)
The Tanzanian author Abdulrazak Gurnah was the 2021 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and on May 15th he will be releasing Tyveri (Theft) which is his fifth novel translated to Danish. The novel follows three young people growing up in Tanzania in the 21st century. Their quiet corner of the world is slowly transformed as tourism, technology and new opportunities – both good and dangerous – begin to impact their lives.
Gurnah’s writing is characterised by a beautiful and sensuous language as well as the ability to portray powerful human destinies. He manages to connect the individual together with the society around it while drawing threads back into history – especially with a focus on the colonial powers. In his novels, Gurnah gives an important voice to the experiences of refugees and the human cost of the legacy of colonialism. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.”
Tso far he has been published in Danish with Efterliv (Afterlives) in 2022, Paradise (Paradis) in 2022, Ved havet (By the Sea) in 2023, and Tavshedens ø (Admiring Silence) in 2024.
