Margaret Atwood receives Franz Kafka award in Prague

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Canadian novelist and poet Margaret Atwood has been awarded the Franz Kafka Prize.

An international jury selected Atwood in May as the winner of the annual literary award, which is handed out by the Prague-based Franz Kafka Society.

Atwood was in Prague on Tuesday to receive the award, a small statue of Kafka by Czech artist Jaroslav Rona and a cash prize of $10,000.

The prize is awarded to “authors whose works of exceptional artistic qualities are found to appeal to readers regardless of their origin, nationality and culture.”

Atwood has written more than 40 books of fiction, poetry and essays.

She’s the 17th recipient of the award. Past winners include American Philip Roth, Austrian novelist, playwright and poet Elfriede Jelinek, British playwright Harold Pinter and Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami.