This year’s Swiss Book Prize 2011 went to Romanian-born Catalin Dorian Florescu, for his novel “Jacob beschliesst zu lieben” (Jacob decides to love). The Swiss Book Prize is a literary award that goes to the best out of 60 novels from 40 publishers, chosen by a jury on behalf of the Swiss Booksellers' Association. The winner gets a prize of 50,000 Swiss francs.

"Jacob decides to love" is the fifth novel written by Catalin Dorian Florescu. He was born in Timisoara, Romania in1967, but he moved to Switzerland with his parents in 1982. Catalin Florescu studied psychology and psychopathology in Zurich. His first novel, “Wunderzeit“, was published in 2001. Read more about him on his official website here (in German).

A big part of the plot of the winning novel takes places in Romania’s Tomnatic village, located in Timis county. The book tells a story about love and friendship, about run and betrayal, which begins in the late 18th century.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com