1) John le Carré recently won this year’s winner of the Goethe Medal. The Medal is for writers ‘who have performed outstanding service for the German language and international cultural relations’. The spymaster honed his German skills while studying at the University of Berne and Lincoln College, Oxford. Traditionally, le Carré has been a reluctant recipient of prizes. Earlier this year he claimed he did ‘not compete for literary prizes‘, asking to be taken off the Man International Booker Prize shortlist.
2) Le Carré’s real name is David Cornwell. The seedbed for his early work came from his time in British Intelligence in Hamburg and Bonn. He wrote two slim murder mysteries as well as his most famous novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, while still a spy. More should be revealed in a biography from the pen of Adam Sisman that is expected
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