Man Booker International Prize 2011 Winner Philip Roth interviewed by Benjamin Taylor

Man Booker International Prize 2011 Winner Philip Roth interviewed by Benjamin Taylor, New York, May 2011

Philip Roth was this week announced as the winner of the fourth Man Booker International Prize at a press conference at the Sydney Opera House. Roth was chosen from a list of 13 eminent contenders.

The Man Booker International Prize, worth £60,000, is awarded for an achievement in fiction on the world stage. It is presented once every two years to a living author for a body of work published either originally in English or widely available in translation in the English language. It has previously been awarded to Ismail Kadaré in 2005, Chinua Achebe in 2007 and Alice Munro in 2009.

Philip Roth is a literary giant and one of the world's most prolific, celebrated - and controversial - writers. Born in March 1933 in New Jersey, Roth is best known for his 1969 novel Portnoy's Complaint, and for his late-1990s trilogy comprising the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Pastoral (1997),
I Married a Communist (1998), and The Human Stain (2000).

Rick Gekoski, Chair of the judging panel, commented today:

"For more than 50 years Philip Roth's books have stimulated, provoked
and amused an enormous, and still expanding, audience. His imagination has not only recast our idea of Jewish identity, it has also reanimated fiction, and not just American fiction, generally.

"His career is remarkable in that he starts at such a high level, and keeps getting better. In his 50s and 60s, when most novelists are in decline, he wrote a string of novels of the highest, enduring quality. Indeed, his most recent, Nemesis (2010), is as fresh, memorable, and alive with feeling as anything he has written. His is an astonishing achievement."

Roth's award will be celebrated at a formal dinner in London on 28 June 2011.

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Entertainment

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• Man Booker International Prize
• Philip Roth
• Benjamin Taylor

[ZachClooney]

It is always a treat to hear Philip Roth speak. Another inspring interview here. And Roth's praise of John Updike is truly moving. We are all lucky to have lived at a time when Roth and Updike were publishing their best books.

[CastleRockFan]

I like how he has to struggle to remember that first National Book Award.

[knightschwartz]

his novels show he is very smart. I wonder why his politics seems to be so much dumber (seems to be PC, not care about the future of the west). mere careerism?

[1reneschlegel]

No doubt, he deserves many recognitions for his life time achievements. But a prize for this book? Sure, great style. But the content? Repetitive, sugared over, flawless characters all around.....

[jimmyoct1973]

I enjoyed hearing Roth's commentary, particularly when he described the responses that his novels had upon each other.

[MrShempenman]

This man is an inspiration, his style and voice one of the best. He's less prissy than Bellow, his prose has harder knuckles. I love the fact he was inspired by Celine.

[Liberalviewer1]

A wonderful writer, a master, a great human being as well.

[eslgurucalif]

@CastleRockFan Yes, I've always been intrigued by Roth.

[CastleRockFan]

@eslgurucalif You may be right. Either way, it's a fascinating interview with a fascinating man.

[eslgurucalif]

I think he was fake struggling to remember the National Book Award. It is probably a studied move he's used repeatedly over the years. That said, he does seem more down to earth and personable than I had expected.