Svyatlana Aleksievich: "I am in an awkward condition..."

Two days before the announcement of the Literature Nobel Prize laureates, Euroradio reached Svyatlana Aleksievich by phone. The Nobel Committee never publishes short-lists, but the Belarusian writer occupies the fourth place in the bookmakers' rankings,  surpassing Umberto Eco and Evgeniy Yevtushenko.



Aleksievich confessed that she got tired of phone calls from all over the world, and refused to comment on her prospects of getting the Nobel Prize: "I am in an awkward condition... How can I speak about this?"



The writer flies to the book fair to Frankfurt in order to present her latest book "The Second-Hand Time". No exaggerations, Frankfurt fair is one of the key events in the literature life of the world. This year it opens the day before the announcement of the new holder of Literature Nobel Prize.



However, even if Aleksievich doesn't get the Nobel, she won't stay without an award. On the last day of Frankfurt fair, October 13, she will be given the Peace Prize of the German Booksellers' Union. The ceremony will take place in the St.Paul's Cathedral.



At Frankfurt fair, Svyatlana Aleksievich will be the special guest of the Russian booth. The book "The Second-Hand Time" is the last volume in the cycle of five works of the writer called "The Red Man. The Voices of Utopia". It was simultaneously published in Russia, Sweden and Germany in mid-September, 2013.



Archive photo: Svyatlana Aleksievich during the International Book Fair in Minsk, 2009, by bymedia.net