Minnesota native Siri Hustvedt, author of international bestsellers including "What I Loved" and "The Summer Without Men," has won this year's Princess of Asturias award for literature.
The Spanish award's jury said that Hustvedt's "ambitious" work "delves into aspects that depict a convulsed and disconcerting present from a feminist perspective."
Born in Northfield, Hustvedt has written dozens of novels, essays and poems influenced by neurosciences, psychoanalysis and the arts. Her books have been translated to more than 30 languages.
She is married to writer Paul Auster, who won the same prize in 2006. The 50,000-euro ($55,000) award is one of eight annual prizes, named after Crown Princess Leonor, handed out to honor people in fields including sports, sciences and arts.
Kenyan author, activist dies
One of Africa's best-known authors and gay rights activists, Binyavanga Wainaina, died Tuesday at age 48, said colleague and friend Tom Maliti. Wainaina, who won the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing, was a key figure in the artistic community who promoted local authors. Friends and supporters in an outpouring of tributes shared his work including his biting essay "How to Write About Africa." "Always use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title," he wrote. "Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone.' " It became one of Granta magazine's best-loved essays, the magazine said. "As a student, he sent the magazine a strongly worded letter condemning our 1994 Africa issue," the magazine tweeted. "His ironic critique was so incisive and true that we published it." He became a frequent contributor. Wainaina also helped to create tolerance for the LGBT community by coming out publicly in 2014 as gay in Kenya, a country where laws still criminalize homosexual behavior. After he came out, Time magazine named him one of the "100 most influential people."
Honor: Omani author Jokha Alharthi won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for "Celestial Bodies," the story of three sisters in a desert country confronting its slave-owning past and a complex modern world. Alharthi is the first Arabic-language writer awarded the prize and the first female writer from Oman to be translated into English. She will split the 50,000 pound ($64,000) purse with her U.K.-based translator, Marilyn Booth. Historian Bettany Hughes, who led the judging panel, said the "lyrical" winning novel was "a book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure."
Postponed: Minnesota music legend Herb Pilhofer, 88, postponed his jazz piano gigs slated for Wednesday and Thursday at Crooners in Fridley due to sudden illness. The shows are expected to be rescheduled for June or July. Performing instead will be pianist Andrew Walesch, who will be accompanied by bassist Gordy Johnson and saxophonist Dave Karr. These shows will be free. Tickets for Pilhofer's shows can be refunded or used for the rescheduled times.
Reward: Country music star Hank Williams Jr. is offering a $6,000 reward for his grandfather's missing shotgun. The singer known for hits including "Family Tradition" has posted a letter online saying he spent time growing up in Alabama with his grandfather. The letter said he can't locate his grandfather's old Remington Model 11-48 shotgun. An attorney for Williams, Steve Smith, said the gun is believed to be lost, not stolen. Williams sang about the man who owned the shotgun in his 1973 song "Grandpa Shepherd."
