Agri Ismaïl receives the Katapultpriset and a prize sum of 70,000 kronor for the best literary debut for his novel "Hyper". The book is about a Kurdish family's downfall with the financial crisis of 2008 as a backdrop.
"In Agri Ismaïl's sprawling novel world, the reader gets to travel in both space, time, and consciousness. Within the framework of the classical family epic, a hypermodern novel with folk-educational qualities bursts forth, giving humanity redemption in an inhumane market economy system", reads the jury's motivation.
The 43-year-old prize winner is a Swedish-Kurdish author, living in Stockholm, who previously worked as a lawyer in London, Dubai, and Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Katapultpriset was established by the Swedish Writers' Association in 1991 and is awarded to a literary author, prose writer or poet, who debuted during the previous year.
The prize was awarded during the literature festival Littfest in Umeå on Friday.
