Belarus' Nobel Prize Literature Winner Says Her Government Is Pretending She Doesn't Exist
Svetlana Alexievich has been described as the first journalist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, as she did on October 8, and is the first winner from Belarus.
Still, she says in this interview, the Belarusian government pretends she doesn’t exist, and she is rarely, if ever, quoted in the country’s media. She specializes in documenting the country’s history as part of the Soviet Union and as itself, basing her writings on witnesses to history.
She is seen in this video at a press conference in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. She left the country in 2000 under pressure from the government, then moved back in 2011. Credit: YouTube/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
