BEST AUTHOR BEST : ABDULRAZAK GURNAH

'' Theft '' is the first novel since being named a Nobel Laureate in 2021.

Depicting ''unexpected kindnesses,'' he says '' reassures us about our shared humanity............ Because it is unexpected is all the sweeter.

.-  What have you learned about all the new readers who found your work thanks to the Nobel?

It has been a great delight to meet and hear from new readers. It has been great also to meet readers who have been with me for some time but about whom I did not know.

The generosity of and pleasure of both has been wonderful and unexpected. 

.-  Have you ever gotten into trouble for reading a book?

No, Never.

.-  Do you prefer books that reach you emotionally or intellectually?

I prefer books that engage me intelligently, whatever the content.

.-  What's the best book you've ever received as a gift?

I was given a book as a school prize when I was 12 years old. It was a big, fat book, a kind of illustrated encyclopedia, with stories about various peoples of the world, what they looked like, what they wore,  what houses they lived in, what uniform the police wore.

I remember that in particular. I read that book endlessly.

.-  What's the most interesting thing that you have learned from a book recently?

The life history and the cultural significance of the Andean condor.

.-  What books are on your night stand?

Mircea Cartarescu, '' Solenoid '' ; Beata Umubyeyi Mairisse, '' The Convoy ''; Juan Gabriel Vasquez, '' Retrospective.''

.-  How do you organize your books?

I cluster books by the same author. Which books end up as their neighbor is sometimes a matter of chance. Although generally nearby books are on nodding terms with each other.

.-  What kind of reader were you as a child?

My parents were not readers, so my early reading was what was provided at school. As we grew older, we found ways to get hold of other kinds of books, and these circulated among us, sometimes causing great excitement.

I remember when '' Lady Chatterley's Lover '' was doing the rounds, although I suspect most of us did not make much of it.

When I later read as a student, it was all new to me. Most of the books we read were unmemorable,  although a handful stand out - '' And Quiet Flows the Don,'' '' Crime and Punishment '' and '' Far From the Madding Crowd,'' which was the first Hardy novel, I read, prompted by the beautiful film with Julie Christie, Alan Bates and Terence Stamp.

This publishing continues. The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.