Irish author Claire Keegan wins Germany's Siegfried Lenz Prize

Irish writer Claire Keegan was on Friday awarded Germany's prestigious Siegfried Lenz Prize 2024, endowed with €50,000 ($54,854), at Hamburg City Hall.

The jury described 56-year-old Keegan as "one of the great European storytellers." Her works have been translated into 30 languages and have also been made into films.

Based on the book of the same name, the film "Small Things Like These" with Irish Oscar winner Cillian Murphy premiered at the Berlinale film festival this year.

The literary prize is awarded every two years to international writers "whose creative work is close to the spirit of Siegfried Lenz," the late German writer of novels, short stories and essays.

Born in 1926, Lenz lived in Hamburg from 1951 and was an honorary citizen of the city. He died in 2014 at the age of 88.