Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, 67, was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time," the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday. Her notable works in English include a book of first-hand accounts about the Soviet-Afghan war, Zinky Boys; War's Unwomanly Face, for which she interviewed over 200 women about the Second World War; and the expansive oral history of the Chernobyl disaster, Voices from Chernobyl, for which she has also won the National Book Critics Circle Award:
That great empire crumbled and fell apart. First Afghanistan, then Chernobyl. When it fell apart, we found ourselves all alone. I'm afraid to say it, but we love Chernobyl. It's become the meaning of our lives. The meaning of our suffering. Like a war. The world found out about our existence after Chernobyl. We're its victims, but also its priests. I'm afraid to say it, but there it is. [Voices from Chernobyl, via the Paris Review]
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Criminal trail?'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Grindr 'shared user HIV status' with ad firms, lawsuit claimsSpeed Read LGBTQ dating app accused of breaching UK data protection laws in case filed at London's High Court
-
The best dog-friendly hotels around the UKThe Week Recommends Take a break with your four-legged friend in accommodation that offers you both a warm welcome
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescueSpeed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in MoroccoSpeed Read
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female presidentSpeed Read
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. saysSpeed Read
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprisingSpeed Read
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
