The American author Joyce Carol Oates has received the Mermaid, the new literature prize instituted by the Book Fair in Gothenburg.
She received the prize during a seminar at the fair.
It's so exquisite, a kind of abstract mermaid, the essence of a mermaid rather than a literal one, as in HC Andersen's fairy tale. This is more like the spirit of a mermaid, an individual who happens to be a woman but is essentially a spiritual being, said Oates during the conversation.
The 86-year-old Oates is currently promoting her new novel "Snitt" and is the fair's big star this year. The Mermaid is being awarded for the first time in connection with the fair's 40th anniversary. The statue in lime wood has been hand-carved by sculptor Panos Mamakos.
