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The Nobel prize for literature is the highest of accolades, and in the case of literature, is judged for a body of work. In the 120-year history of the prize, it has only been awarded to writers originally from the continent of Africa five times. The Tanzanian writer, Abdulrazak Gurnah has became the fifth, and the first for Tanzania. He is 73 years old and聽has spent much of his adult life in the UK, arriving as a refugee in the 1960s. He is the first black African writer to win since the Nigerian, Wole Soyinka in 1986.

The citation from the Swedish academy said he was awarded the prize for his "uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents".聽

Newshour presenter Razia Iqbal called him just moments after the announcement was made by the Academy, only to find that he was still talking to them on the landline.

Photo: Abdulrazak Gurnah at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on August 17, 2017 Credit: Getty Images

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