German writer Hans Magnus Enzensberger wins Sonning Prize for promoting European culture

October 9th, 2009 Kenyans celebrate as Obama wins Nobel Peace PrizeKISUMU, Kenya — Kenyan radio shows interrupted their programming Friday and bus conductors shouted the news from the windows: President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee stunned many with its decision to award Obama the prize so early in his presidency for his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms and defuse tensions through diplomacy.

October 8th, 2009 Herta Mueller wins 2009 Nobel literature prizeSTOCKHOLM — Herta Mueller, a member of Romania's ethnic German minority who was persecuted for her critical depictions of life behind the Iron Curtain, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday in an award seen as a nod to the 20th anniversary of communism's collapse. Mueller was honored for work that "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed," the Swedish Academy said.

October 8th, 2009 Nobel lit prize goes to little-known EuropeanThe judges, apparently, could not help themselves. Just two days after a Nobel Prize official worried the literature committee was too "Eurocentric," the winner for 2009 was Herta Mueller, a Romanian-born writer once censored in her native country.

October 8th, 2009 German winners of the Nobel literature prizeHerta Mueller is the 10th German to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Here is a list of German writers who have received the award.

October 6th, 2009 Nobel literature judge: award 'too Eurocentric'STOCKHOLM — The new frontman of the Nobel literature prize jury believes the secretive panel has been too "Eurocentric" in picking winners and says there are plenty of American writers who would qualify for the award. Peter Englund's comments Tuesday come two days before the prize announcement.

October 6th, 2009 Ian Frazier wins Thurber PrizeNEW YORK — Ian Frazier is a funny man. Officially. The author and frequent New Yorker contributor won the Thurber Prize for American Humor for his lighthearted book on parental guidance, "Lamentations of the Father." Frazier, who in 1997 received the inaugural Thurber award, will receive $5,000, prize organizers said Monday.

October 6th, 2009 Judge: Nobel literature prizes 'too Eurocentric'STOCKHOLM — American authors, you may be back in the Nobel running. The most prominent member of the Nobel literature prize jury believes the secretive panel has been too "Eurocentric" in picking winners and said Tuesday there are many American writers who would qualify for the coveted award.

September 9th, 2009 LONDON - Rapper Speech Debelle emerged as the dark horse to win the prestigious Barclaycard Mercury Prize at the award ceremony held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on September 8. Debelle's album Speech Therapy has only sold 3,000 copies, which makes it the lowest selling album ever to have won the prize.

July 30th, 2009 German stage director Peter Zadek dies at 83HAMBURG — German stage director Peter Zadek, known for his provocative and unconventional renditions, died overnight in Hamburg after a serious illness, the theater where he was working said Thursday. He was 83. "We mourn for a friend and one of the great directors of German theater," said Ulrich Waller, head of Hamburg's St.

June 30th, 2009 German choreographer Pina Bausch diesBERLIN — Pina Bausch, a German choreographer known for her pioneering work, died Tuesday. She was 68. The Wuppertal Dance Theater in western Germany, where she had served as director, announced the death.

June 22nd, 2009 Historian wins $100,000 military prizeNEW YORK — Historian Gerhard L. Weinberg has received a $100,000 lifetime achievement prize for excellence in military writing.

June 18th, 2009 Italian author to receive German literary prizeBERLIN — Italian author Claudio Magris will receive the top award of the Frankfurt Book Fair this fall, the jury announced Thursday. The jury that selects the winner of the annual Frankfurt Booksellers Peace Prize praised Magris' unique engagement with "the cohabitation and cooperation between different cultures." Magris, 70, often considered a contender for the Nobel prize in literature, is best known for his works "Danube" and "Microcosms." Born in the Italian port town of Trieste, he has written extensively about Germany, central Europe and his native Italy.

June 12th, 2009 US writer Michael Thomas wins lucrative book prizeDUBLIN, Ireland — American writer Michael Thomas won one of the world's most lucrative literary prizes Thursday for his debut novel "Man Gone Down." A panel of judges from Ireland, Britain, Switzerland and Canada named Boston-born Thomas, 41, the winner of the euro100,000 (US$140,000) IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. "Man Gone Down" follows a thirty-something African-American man, broke and estranged from his wife and three children, who has four days to keep his family afloat and reclaim his stake in the American Dream.

June 12th, 2009 LONDON - John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has been honored with a lifetime achievement honour at the Mojo magazine awards in London. Ono, who was given the first music prize of her career, thanked Mojo for their "courageous" decision.

May 13th, 2009 Italian mezzo-soprano Bartoli wins Sonning prizeCOPENHAGEN — Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has won Denmark's Sonning Music Prize. The award committee says Bartoli's "sound is unique, her technique has not been surpassed and her radiation on stage is like (opera legend Maria) Callas." The Leonie Sonning Music Foundation says Bartoli is "our days' great diva." The committee says in a statement released Wednesday that Bartoli will receive the 600,000 kroner ($110,000) award during a concert in Copenhagen on June 16, 2010.