The Börsenverein, the German book trade association, has named Margaret Atwood this year's recipient of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Quillblog reported. The annual €25,000 (about $27,880) award recognizes an influential member of the literary or arts community who conveys superb "international understanding." Atwood will receive her prize at a ceremony in Frankfurt during the 2017 Berlin Book Days and Frankfurt Book Fair in October.
The board of trustees commented: "In her wide range of novels, essays and volumes of poetry, Atwood has demonstrated a keen political intuition and a deeply perceptive ability to detect dangerous and underlying developments and tendencies. As one of the most important storytellers of our era, she fearlessly probes shifting patterns of thought and behavior in both her utopian and dystopian works.... Through her, we experience who we are, where we stand, and what responsibilities we carry with regard to ourselves and our peaceful coexistence with others."