Tsitsi Dangarembga Receives Peace Prize from German Book Trade 2021 تجارة The Board of Trustees announced on Monday. “Using the example of a teenage woman, the Zimbabwean writer and filmmaker describes the struggle for the right to a dignified life and self-determination for Zimbabwean women,” and says, “In doing so, social and ethical struggles are emerging that transcend the regional context and open up spaces of resonance for issues of global justice.”

In her films, she deals with the problems that arise from the clash of tradition and modernity, according to the Board of Trustees. “Your messages are successfully addressed to a wide audience both in Zimbabwe and in neighboring countries.”

Tsitsi Dangarembga is one of the most important writers and directors in her country. The books in her trilogy of novels deal with the life of a woman in post-colonial Zimbabwe striving for self-determination. In her films, she deals with the problems that arise from the clash of tradition and modernity. At the same time she fights for freedom rights. After calling for an anti-corruption demonstration in 2020, she was briefly detained and released on parole.

Tsetse Dangarimbaja was born on February 14, 1959 in Motoko in what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. She studied psychology in her homeland and wrote her first plays. Her first novel, Nervous Conditions, was published in 1988 – the German translation (“Aufbruch”) didn’t make it to bookstores until 2019. In the early 1990s she studied film directing in Berlin and founded a film production company in Harare. In 2000 she finally returned to Africa. Her novel “This Mournable Body” was nominated for the 2020 Man Booker Prize.

The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels has been awarding the prize since 1950 to figures who have contributed to the realization of the idea of ​​peace in literature, science or art. The prize money is 25,000 euros. The award ceremony is traditionally held in October at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Indian economist and philosopher Amartya Sen received the award last year.