The writer Shida Bazyar has been awarded the German Book Prize for her novel, “Die Lücken”. The announcement was made on Monday, just ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair. The jury stated that Bazyar’s book speaks to “unspoken chapters of German history.” “Die Lücken” explores the stories of Jewish families, Nazi profiteers, and Kurdish and Iranian people who seek protection and refuge within Germany.
Bazyar was born in 1988 in Rhineland-Palatinate to political activists who had fled Iran just before the Islamic Revolution. She subsequently studied creative writing and cultural journalism in Hildesheim. Her debut novel, “Nachts ist es leise in Teheran”, was published in 2016 and was already recognized with several awards.
