For the fifteen ladies who have obtained the Nobel Prize in Literature, six are from Eastern or Central Europe.

The Nobel Ladies of Eastern Europe. Born between 1891 and 1962, within the stretch of land from East Germany to Belarus, these Nobel ladies vary wildly within the real means they write—especially about energy and hopelessness, two topics each of them share. There’s Elfriede Jelinek, whose 1983 novel The Piano Teacher utilizes BDSM being a real means of discussing punishment and deviance. Then there’s Svetlana Alexievich, whose renderings of Chernobyl testimony are as extra and haunting while the exclusion zone it self. And, needless to say, there’s Olga Tokarczuk, whoever discussion delights for the reason that model of sarcasm therefore unique to your Eastern European visual: Cheer up! (more…)