Mernissi awarded top Spanish literary prize

 
Moroccan female writer, US's Sontag jointly win Spain's Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature.

 
OVIEDO, Spain - Moroccan writer Fatima Mernissi and US author Susan Sontag were on Wednesday jointly awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature, one of Spain's most prestigious honours, the jury announced.

"They have developed literary work in various genres that broach essential issues of our time ... with depth of thought and aesthetic quality," jury president Victor Garcia de la Concha said.

Sontag, 70, was commended for her description of US society and her commitment. She was a prominent figure in intellectual movements in the 60s.

Her profilic writing career began in 1963 with "The Benefactor" which was followed by, among many others "Against Interpretation", "In America", "On Photography" and "Illness as Metaphor".

Fatima Mernissi, 63, is considered one of the most important voices in Arab intelligensia and the field of Koranic studies.

Her works include "Scheherazade goes West", "The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Islam", "Islam and Democracy" and "Forgotten Queens of Islam".

The literature prize is one of eight annual awards given out by the Prince of Asturias Foundation, named after Spain's Crown Prince Felipe of Asturias and based in the northwestern Spanish town of Oviedo, the capital of the Asturias region.

The prizes, each worth 50,000 euros (56,000 dollars), are given in the categories of communications and humanities, arts, literature, social sciences, scientific and technical research, international cooperation, sports and peace.

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