Author of ‘musical and poetic’ novels wins award

Anna Felder (archive picture from 2002) will be given the award at a ceremony at the Swiss National Library in Bern next month Keystone

An Italian-language author, Anna Felder, has been named the winner of this year’s Grand Prix Literature by the Federal Culture Office.

The jury found that her novels and short stories, including Liquida (Liquid) and Tra dove piove e non piove (Where it rains and where it doesn’t), were written with a poetic and musical language, a fine sense of humour and were precise observations of people and nature.

The oeuvre of the 80-year old Felder also includes plays for the theatre, stage and radio.

Previous winners of the annual award include Adolf Muschg, Alberto Nessi, Pascale Kramer and Erica Pedretti.

Promotion

The Grand Prix LiteratureExternal link, founded in 2012, is awarded to authors resident in Switzerland for their complete works or a unique contribution to Switzerland’s literary scene. It is worth CHF40,000 ($41,600) and is aimed at promoting literature within the country.

A special award went to Yla von Dach for her translations.

Seven other authors from the German, French, Italian and Romansh language regions are to receive CHF25,000 each for a specific literary work.