British-Ghanaian writer wins prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann prize

Black British writer Sharon Dodua Otoo wins prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann Prize also known as the German-language fiction award.

Born in London and now living in Berlin, Otoo was given the award for her first and short story in German "Herr Gröttrup setzt sich hin” (Mr. Gröttrup sits down), partly written from the perspective of a breakfast egg.

The jury described the book as fascinating, for its satirical perspective of a German couple and their breakfast ritual.

“You have this British author telling the story of a forgotten chapter of German history – I think that’s incredible,” critic Sandra Kegel, who had nominated Dodua Otoo for the competition told newsmen.

A review in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described the prize-winning story as “the kind of work of literature that you have to go searching for because it hardly knows how sought after it is”.

Otoo, who describes herself as “a Black British mother, activist, author and editor,”  has published two novellas and has written several short stories.

Since winning the €25,000 (8 million Naira) prize, Dodua Otoo has been swamped with offers from German publishing houses and literary agents. She is determined to take the opportunity to turn the short story into a novel. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity”, she told Guardian UK.

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