Nobel author Tokarczuk’s hometown gives free rides for books

Oct 11, 2019 | 11:10 AM

WARSAW, Poland — A Polish city is offering free public transport rides to bookworms — provided they’re carrying works by the country’s new Nobel literature prize laureate.

City transport authorities in Wroclaw, where Olga Tokarczuk lives, said Friday that people displaying her books can ride for free on buses and trams over the weekend.

Tokarczuk won the 2018 Nobel Prize on Thursday for “a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life,” in the words of the Swedish Academy that bestows the award.

Poland’s finance minister has said he will waive the income tax bill on the $905,000 Tokarczuk won with her prize.