John Banville awarded Franz Kafka Prize

(CBS/AP) Irish novelist John Banville has won the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize.

An international jury which included German literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki and British publishder John Calder selected Banville for the prize, which is awarded annually and includes $10,000.

American novelist Philip Roth, Nobel laureates Elfriede Jelinek of Austria and Harold Pinter of Britain are only a few of the many past winners.

The prize is awarded by the Prague-based Franz Kafka Society to authors whose works "appeal to readers regardless of their origin, nationality and culture."

The society said in a statement Thursday that Banville agreed to travel to Prague for an October ceremony to receive the prize.

Banville won Britain's 2005 Man Booker fiction prize for his novel "The Sea."