Herta Mueller, 56, was tapped Thursday to receive this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.
Many observers believe her selection is in accordance with the commemoration of the 20th anniversay of the fall of communism, although Peter Englund denies this. Englund is the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.
The prizes have been given to European writers in the last three years.
Last year Horace Engdahl said Europe remains the literary center of the world and that American writers are not at par with them.
This year Englund has said he thinks the Academy finds it easier to pick European authors because the Academy is comprised of Europeans, and therefore share the same sensibilities. Mueller was born in Romania, and she and her husband emigrated to Germany in 1987.
Mueller is the 10th German to receive the prize, the latest being Gunter Grass in 1999. Her body of work is mostly in German, but there have been translations in English, Spanish, and French.
Mueller began in 1982 with "Niederungen" (Nadirs), a short-story collection. Her most recent novel, "Atemschaukel" (Swinging Breath) is in contention for the German Book Prize tomorrow. It would be interesting to see how it fares.
Mueller is also the 12th woman to cop the Nobel in this category, the latest being Doris Lessing in 2007 . This year marks the first time four women have taken the Nobel in the same year, with two of them from the United States and another one from Israel.
The Nobel Prize in Literature includes 10 million kronor (equivalent to $1.4 million), and will be awarded December 10 in Stockholm.
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