The 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded to a Female Writer from Belarus

The Nobel Prize in Literature has this time gone to Eastern Europe, awarded to a writer and journalist named Svetlana Alexievich from Belarus. The Nobel Academy announced on Thursday, October 8, that Ms. Alexievich was deemed deserving of this award for reflecting various voices in her works, which 'embody the suffering and courage of our age.' The statement refers to Svetlana Alexievich's political and social views and identifies her as one of the prominent critics of the Russian government. According to Sara Danius, the Secretary of the Nobel Academy, Ms. Alexievich reflects the spirit of the Soviet people and the post-Soviet era in her works, although her writings are not limited to history but also encompass eternal and universal themes. Danius ultimately described Svetlana Alexievich's works as 'truly brilliant' and expressed happiness over her selection. Svetlana Alexievich was born on May 31, 1948, in a small town in Ukraine called Ivano-Frankivsk. Her father is Belarusian and her mother is Ukrainian, and she later settled in Belarus with her family. Although Ms. Alexievich is a writer of short stories, she has gained fame through reports, articles, and books classified in the field of oral history, including the book 'Voices from Chernobyl.' Her latest book titled 'Second-Hand Time' is also considered part of oral history and is set to be published soon by an independent English publisher. Svetlana Alexievich is the fourteenth female writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the same context, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists from China, Japan, and the United States; the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics went to atomic scientists from Japan and Canada; and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to scientists from Sweden, Turkey, and the United States.