Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature.
In his first comments on the award, Gurnah said he was “surprised and humbled.”
The Swedish Academy praised Gurnah for for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism”.
The prize is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.14m / £840,000).
The Tanzanian noveslist, 73, is the author of 10 novels, including Paradise and Desertion.
He said how grateful he was to the academy, adding: “It’s just great – its just a big prize, and such a huge list of wonderful writers – I am still taking it in.
“It was such a complete surprise that I really had to wait until I heard it announced before I could believe it.”
Yesterday, three scientists have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for work that helps understand complex physical systems.
The trio are Japanese-born American Syukuro Manabe, German Klaus Hasselmann and Italian Giorgio Parisi .
The winners will share the prize money of 10 million krona (£842,611).
The deadly floods that hit the world earlier this summer has shed light on climate change and its impact.
Last month, more than 180 people died in Western Europe due to the floods.
