Nobel Prize in Literature
1 appearances
-
Edition 114 (2021) Winner
Abdulrazak Gurnah
アブドゥルラザク・グルナ
Abdulrazak Gurnah
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1948-12-20 （Sultanate of Zanzibar (now Tanzania)）
- Nationality
- Tanzania, United Kingdom
- Languages
- English, Swahili
- Residence History
- Zanzibar (origin) → Canterbury, England (residence) → Abu Dhabi (New York University Abu Dhabi, from 2024)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Professor
- Active Years
- 1980-2025
- Affiliations
- University of Kent (Professor/Emeritus Professor of English and Postcolonial Literatures), New York University Abu Dhabi (Arts Professor of Literature, from 2024), Wasafiri (contributing editor and advisory board member), Bayero University Kano (lecturer, 1980–1983)
- Memberships
- Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)
- Influenced By
- V. S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie
- Influenced
- Maaza Mengiste (has cited Gurnah's influence)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Christ Church University (Christ Church College, Canterbury) | — | — | BA | — | United Kingdom |
| University of Kent | — | — | MA, PhD | — | United Kingdom |
Canterbury Christ Church University (Christ Church College, Canterbury)
Degree:
BA
Country:
United Kingdom
Degrees at the time were awarded by the University of London
University of Kent
Degree:
MA, PhD
Year of Graduation:
1982
Country:
United Kingdom
PhD thesis: "Criteria in the Criticism of West African Fiction" (1982)
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Nobel Prize in Literature | — | — | The Swedish Academy (Nobel Prize) | 受賞 |
| 2007 | RFI Témoin du Monde | By the Sea | — | Radio France Internationale | 受賞 |
| 2006 | Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature | — | — | Royal Society of Literature | 選出 |
| 1994 | Booker Prize (shortlisted) | Paradise | — | The Booker Prize | 最終候補 |
Nobel Prize in Literature
2021
Organization:
The Swedish Academy (Nobel Prize)
Result:
受賞
RFI Témoin du Monde
2007
Work:
By the Sea
Organization:
Radio France Internationale
Result:
受賞
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
2006
Organization:
Royal Society of Literature
Result:
選出
Booker Prize (shortlisted)
1994
Work:
Paradise
Organization:
The Booker Prize
Result:
最終候補
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Paradise
1994 NovelA historical and human drama set in East Africa exploring the effects of colonialism on individuals and communities.
ColonialismMigration and exileIdentityFamily and fate
By the Sea
2001 NovelThrough the meeting of a refugee and his host country, the novel examines memory, alienation and the fractures produced by legal and social systems.
Refugee experienceMemoryLaw and societyAlienation
Desertion
2005 NovelA story about cross-cultural relationships, betrayal and mismatched memories that reflect the fragmenting effects of empire.
Love and betrayalLegacy of colonialismConflicting memories
Afterlives
2020 NovelSet around World War I and its aftermath in East Africa, the novel explores how war and colonial rule impacted individual lives.
Effects of warColonial ruleIntergenerational memory
Memory of Departure
1987 NovelGurnah's first novel, starting from themes of exile and homesickness to depict individual experience.
HomesicknessMigrationSelf-awareness
Bibliography
- Memory of Departure (1987)
- Pilgrims Way (1988)
- Dottie (1990)
- Paradise (1994)
- Admiring Silence (1996)
- By the Sea (2001)
- Desertion (2005)
- The Last Gift (2011)
- Gravel Heart (2017)
- Afterlives (2020)
- Theft (2025)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Measured, restrained narrationAttention to detail with understated emotional expressionPrimarily English prose incorporating Swahili and Arabic vocabulary
- Recurring Motifs
- Sea and coastlinesMovement and exileMemory and the shadow of the pastIntercultural tensions
Legacy
Gurnah established international recognition for his compassionate portrayals of colonialism and the fates of refugees; his Nobel Prize in 2021 brought his work to a wider readership. He is praised for integrating East African history and migratory experiences into English literature.
Academic Societies
- Royal Society of Literature
Quotes
-
"for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents."
Source: The Nobel Prize citation (The Nobel Foundation, 2021) (2021)
Trivia
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021; the first Black writer since Toni Morrison to win the prize.
- Left Zanzibar for England as a refugee after the 1968 Zanzibar Revolution; that experience is a major theme in his work.
- His first language is Swahili, but he writes primarily in English.