This year's Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the fiction category has been awarded to Katerina Poladjan, born in Moscow in 1971, for her novel 'Goldstrand'. The award was announced by the seven-member jury on Thursday. In her work, Poladjan takes readers on a journey spanning just 160 pages from Odessa through Rome to the titular socialist seaside resort, Goldstrand, in Bulgaria. At the heart of the story is director Eli, who reflects on his life while lying on the couch of a mysterious analyst called a "Dottoressa". Through absurd dialogues that unfold, the narrative weaves together a history of the 20th century and its upheavals in Europe.