Kadare wins first Man Booker International

LONDON, June 2 (UPI) -- Albanian writer Ismail Kadare Thursday became the first winner of the Man Booker International Prize, beating out such authors as Ian McEwan for the title.

"Ismail Kadare is a writer who maps a whole culture -- its history, its passion, its folklore, its politics, its disasters," John Carey, chair of the judges for the prize, said in a statement posted on the award's Web site.

Kadare said he was "honored" by the prize, adding he hoped the world recognized his part of the world was capable of more than violence.

"My firm hope is that European and world opinion may henceforth realize that this region, to which my country, Albania, belongs, can also give rise to other kinds of news and be the home of other kinds of achievement," he said.

Kadare was born in 1936 in Gjirokaster, Albania. He has lived in France since 1990 after seeking asylum there. His prize is $109,000 and a trophy to be awarded June 27 in Edinburgh.

He is best known for his books "The General of the Dead Army," and "Broken April."