Sherko Fatah

Sherko Fatah, an Iraqi Kurd who was born in the GDR and currently lives in Germany, has been nominated for the 2008 German Book Prize. Fatah has published three novels in German, including Im Grenzland (At the Borderline) -- Words Without Borders published an extract online, translated into English by Andrea Heyde. Qantara.de has a compelling review of the nominated new novel, Das dunkle Schiff (The Dark Ship), which tells the story of a reluctant jihadist who flees from Iraq to Germany. None of Fatah's novels have been published in English yet -- perhaps a win in the German Book Prize will lead a publisher to his work?