France's Le Clezio wins Nobel literature

STOCKHOLM: France's Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio won the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature yesterday for works characterized by "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" and focused on the environment, especially the desert.

Le Clezio, 68, is the first French writer to win the prestigious award since Chinese-born Frenchman Gao Xingjian was honored in 2000.

The decision was in line with the Swedish Academy's recent picks of European authors. Last year's prize went to Doris Lessing of Britain.