Theodor Kramer Prize, rewarding writers in resistance or in exile was awarded to Meral Şimşek

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The Austrian Theodor Kramer Prize, rewarding writers in resistance or in exile, was awarded to the Kurdish author Meral Şimşek this year.

Şimşek shared the award with the Austrian essayist Gerhard Fritz Oberschlick.

The award will be given at a ceremony to be held in Niederhollabrunn town in Austria on the anniversary of Kramer's birthday, September 9.

Şimşek had been on trial and was facing up imprisonment on the charge of "membership of a terrorist organization" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

She had a travel ban and her passport was confiscated. Şimşek is a member of Kurdish PEN and PEN International also called for solidarity with Şimşek before her trial last August.

CLICK-PEN International calls for solidarity with Kurdish writer Meral Şimşek

Although the traveling ban has been lifted, Şimşek has not yet received her passport.

I will attend the ceremony if I can get my passport, " she said to bianet.

The award is given to writers in exile and resist

"I am honored to share this prize with Gerhard Fritz Oberschlick." said Şimşek.

"To receive this award gives me great pride and sorrow at the same time. One can ask why a person would feel sorrow for receiving an award. If people are always facing death, massacre, and persecution, and if I was awarded for the first time as Kurd, you feel sorrow"

She continued:

"There are so many writers who did not get the place they deserve in literature, especially those who write in Kurdish. I am also feeling sorrow for that. But once again we show to the whole world the power and resistance of the Kurds"

Şimşek stated that the award was not given only to her but to the resistance of the Kurdish women.

"This resistance is not only my resistance but the resistance of the Kurdish women and Kurds. Because even though I write in Turkish, I wrote about the reality of Kurds."

About Meral Şimşek

Born in Diyarnakır,Meral Şimşek is the prize-winning author of three poetry books – Mülteci Düşler (Refugee Dreams), Ateşe Bulut Yağdıran (Clouds on Fire) and İncir Karası (Black Fig). Her novel Nar Lekesi (Pomegranate Stain), published in 2017, tells the story of Şimşek's family and sheds light on the plight of Kurdish people in Turkey in the 1990s. Şimşek is a member of Kurdish PEN, of the Association of Kurdish writers (Kürt Edebiyatçılar Derneği), and of the Mesopotamian Association of Kurdish writers (Mezopotamya Yazarlar Derneği).

CLICK-Kurdish writer Meral Şimşek tortured with strip search by police in Greece

(FD/TB)