Paris  - Winning a literary prize gives you time and the desire to continue writing, the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature, JMG Le Clezio, said Thursday.

"Winning a prize represents time, you gain time," the 68-year-old Le Clezio told France Inter radio just hours before he was named the winner of the prestigious award.

"It also gives you the desire to continue writing," he went on. "One writes to be read, to get a response. (A prize) is a response."

Asked what he would speak about in his acceptance speech in Stockholm if he were to win, Le Clezio said he might talk about how difficult it is for young writers and writers living far from the developed world to be published.

"Why is that so complicated? It should be much easier," he said.

Le Clezio said he was angry that the publishing system made it so difficult "for some writers - especially if they're very young - to be heard."

One solution, he suggested, would be to abolish taxes on books. "Books must be tax-free," Le Clezio said. (dpa)