David Grossman wins German book prize

Israeli author David Grossman has been announced as the winner of the 2010 German Book Trade Peace Prize by Germany’s book publishers association, for his efforts in ending the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Grossman is noted for his ambitious novel "To the End of the Land", which takes on the story of a woman travelling through Israel. The book was influenced by the death of Grossman’s son, who was killed by a Hezbollah missile in 2006.

When awarding him the prize, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association commended Grossman for continuously trying to "understand and describe the position of the other."

"The association and its members have chosen to honor one of Israel’s foremost authors and an active supporter of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians," said a statement issued by the Board of Trustees of the German Book Trade. "(Grossman's) books illustrate the extent to which we can only end the cycle of violence, hatred and displacement in the Middle East by means of listening, restraint and the power of words."

The author will receive the $30,200 prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Saturday October 10, 2010.

Grossman has been the recipient of numerous other well-known literary prizes for his writing and political activism. These include the Nelly Sachs Prize (1991), the Premio Mondello (Italy, 1996), Manès Sperber Prize (2002), the Bialik Prize (Israel, 2004), the Emet Prize (Israel, 2007), Geschwister Scholl Prize (2008) and the Albatros Prize (2010).

Past winners of the German Book Trade Peace Prize include Amos Oz, Susan Sontag, Vaclav Havel, Octavio Paz, and Orhan Pamuk.