Haruki Murakami receives Franz Kafka Award

The Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami (57), has received the Franz Kafka Award at a ceremony at Old Town Hall. Mr. Murakami, who was among this year's contenders for the Nobel Prize in Literature, travels very rarely but told reporters that he chose to come to Prague because he holds Franz Kafka in high esteem, and considers it a great honor to receive an international literary award named for the author who called Prague home. Haruki Murakami has read many of Franz Kafka's works and considers him a personal favorite. It is Mr. Murakami's first visit to the Czech capital.