Pride of Belarus leaves the country

It has been confirmed that the first East European Nobel Prize winner in Literature Svetlana Alexievich who has been consistently criticizing long-serving President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko departed her home country Belarus to Germany. As Alexievich joined well-known female politicians and anti-government protestors who fled the country to avoid the oppression of the Lukashenko administration, the drive of the anti-government protest in Belarus is expected to be significantly reduced.

“Alexievich has left the country for treatment in Germany. She will participate in a book exhibition and awards ceremony to be held in Sweden and Sicily, Italy,” said a staff member of the Belarusian writer in an interview with local media on Monday (local time), according to Agence France-Presse. “While the date of her return hasn’t been determined, she will return to Belarus in a month. She will continue her anti-government activities upon returning to the country.”

Alexievich who was born in Ukraine in 1948 under a Belarusian father and a Ukrainian mother immigrated to Belarus when she was young and has spent her entire life. She worked as a magazine correspondent after graduating from college before transitioning to a full-time writer.

She introduced a new genre that she calls “novels of voices” by turning the real stories of hundreds of people she has collected over many years based on her experience as a correspondent into literature works, garnering global attention. Her book titled “The Unwomanly Face of War” depicts the painful stories of Belarusians who fought against Nazi Germany as part of the Soviet Union during World War II based on the testimonies of those who participated in the war. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015 for the book.


Youn-Jong Kim zozo@donga.com