Thursday 16 March 2017

The Man Booker International Prize 2017:  longlist announced



The Man Booker International Prize has revealed the ‘Man Booker Dozen’ of 13 novels in contention for the 2017 prize, which celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world.

The prize is awarded every year for a single book, which is translated into English and published in the UK. Both novels and short-story collections are eligible. The work of translators is equally rewarded, with the GBP 50,000 prize divided between the author and the translator of the winning entry. In addition, each shortlisted author and translator will receive GPB 1,000 each. The judges considered 126 books.

The full 2017 longlist is as follows:

Author (nationality)            Translator                          Title

Mathias Enard                     Charlotte Mandell               Compass
(France)                                                                                

Wioletta Greg                       Eliza Marciniak                    Swallowing Mercury
(Poland)                                                                               

David Grossman                  Jessica Cohen                       A Horse Walks Into a Bar
(Israel)                                                                                  

Stefan Hertmans                 David McKay                        War and Turpentine
(Belgium)                                                                             

Roy Jacobsen                        Don Bartlett                         The Unseen
(Norway)                               Don Shaw                             

Ismail Kadare                       John Hodgson                      The Traitor's Niche 
(Albania)                                                                              

Jon Kalman Stefansson     Phil Roughton                     Fish Have No Feet
(Iceland)                                                                               

Yan Lianke                            Carlos Rojas                          The Explosion Chronicles
(China)                                                                                 

Alain Mabanckou                Helen Stevenson                 Black Moses
(France)                                                                                

Clemens Meyer                    Katy Derbyshire                   Bricks and Mortar
(Germany)                                                                           

Dorthe Nors                         Misha Hoekstra                   Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
(Denmark)                                                                           

Amos Oz                                Nicholas de Lange               Judas
(Israel)                                                                                  

Samanta Schweblin            Megan McDowell                 Fever Dream
(Argentina)                                                                          

The longlist was selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and consisting of: Daniel Hahn, an award-winning writer, editor and translator; Elif Shafak, a prize-winning novelist and one of the most widely read writers in Turkey; Chika Unigwe, author of four novels including On Black Sisters’ Street; and Helen Mort, a poet who has been shortlisted for many poetry prizes in the UK.

Nick Barley said, “It’s been an exceptionally strong year for translated fiction. Our longlist consists of books that are compulsively readable and ferociously intelligent. From powerful depictions and shocking exposés of historical and contemporary horrors to intimate and compelling portraits of people going about their daily lives, our longlisted books are above all breathtakingly well-written. Fiction in translation is flourishing: in these times when walls are being built, this explosion of brilliant ideas from around the world arriving into the English language feels more important than ever.”

The shortlist of six books will be announced on 20 April and the winner of the 2017 prize will be announced on 14 June at a formal dinner in London.