Afghan writer wins 2008 Prix Goncourt

Atiq Rahimi wins France’s top literary prize

10 November 2008

Atiq Rahimin, an exiled Afghan writer, has won the Prix Goncourt, France's top literary prize, for his novel ‘Syngue Sabour'.

‘Syngue Sabour', Persian for ‘The Stone of Patience' was the first novel written in French by Rahimin, and tells to story of a woman left caring for her brain-damaged husband after a war wound.  

The 46 year-old novelist fled Afghanistan for Pakistan in his early 20s before receiving asylum in France. Known also for his filmmaking, Rahimi received a doctorate in audiovisual communication from Sorbonne University in Paris.

The Prix Goncourt was established 105 years ago and previous winners have included Marcel Proust, Simone de Beauvoir and Marguerite Duras. The prize is awarded each year to the author of ‘the best and most imaginative prose work of the year'.

The Man Booker Prize Fiction at its finest