One of the first things I did on Thursday when I learned that Herta Müller, author of UNP title Nadirs, had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, was call translator Sieglinde Lug. Lug, professor emeriti at Denver University, didn’t answer my call. Or the calls of various international media seeking a comment. She was inside a studio, recording audio books for the blind. And by the time she got the news that Müller, who Lug has met, had won the prize, most of the rest of the world already knew.

When she called me back on Friday, an exhilarated Lug said she was surprised by the announcement, though she felt Müller a very deserving recipient. But even in Germany, Lug said, Müller is not as well-known as many authors.

“It is not the kind of book that people have on their nightstand,” she said. 

Nadirs is a semi-autobiographical collection of short stories set in the Banat, a poor, German-speaking region of Romania where Müller grew up. Themes of violence, poverty, illness and death run through the book, all of which are common in Müller’s work.

But the bleak environment Müller describes is offset by her beautiful language. That’s part of what makes the book so memorable, Lug said.

“The language is really very poetic about a dismal reality,” Lug said “I found it extremely powerful.”

The University of Nebraska Press is reprinting Nadirs, and has also obtained world and electronic rights to the book. Look for it in bookstores soon.

And have a great Monday.