Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2010

[Stewart]

The longlist for the 2010 Independent Foreign Ficton Prize has been announced (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/reading-all-over-the-world-the-longlist-for-this-years-independent-foreign-fiction-prize-spans-the-globe-1919979.html), and it's quite a small press friendly affair. As usual, titles under consideration were those translated works (from a living author) published in the prior year within the UK, and the prize money gets split equally between author and translator. Here's the longlist:
The Coronation, Boris Akunin (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/writers/1219-boris-akunin.html) (Russian, trans: Andrew Bromfield) [Weidenfeld & Nicolson (http://www.wnfiction.com/)]

To Music, Ketil Bj?rnstad (Norwegian, trans: Deborah Dawkin & Erik Skuggevik) [Maia Press (http://www.maiapress.com/)]

The Madman of Freedom Square, Hassan Blasim (Arabic, trans: Jonathan Wright) [Comma Press (http://www.commapress.co.uk/)]

Brodeck's Report, Philippe Claudel (French, trans: John Cullen) [MacLehose Press (http://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/)]

The Blind Side Of The Heart (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/european-literature/16943-julia-franck-blind-side-heart.html), Julia Franck (German, trans: Anthea Bell) [Harvill Secker (http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/harvillsecker/)]

Fists, Pietro Grossi (Italian, trans: Howard Curtis) [Pushkin Press (http://www.pushkinpress.com/)]

Yalo, Elias Khoury (Arabic, trans: Humphrey Davies) [MacLehose Press (http://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/)]

The Kindly Ones (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/european-literature/1746-jonathan-littell-kindly-ones.html), Jonathan Littell (French, trans: Charlotte Mandell) [Chatto & Windus (http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/imprint.htm?command=search&db=main.txt&allreqd=T&max=1&PubDatetype=date_dmy&bwimprintdata=Chatto&Pubdatesort=1&Pu)]

Broken Glass, Alain Mabanckou (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/writers/11133-alain-mabanckou.html) (French, trans: Helen Stevenson) [Serpent's Tail (http://www.serpentstail.com/)]

Your Face Tomorrow, Volume 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell, Javier Mar?as (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/writers/16756-javier-marias.html) (Spanish, trans: Margaret Julla Costa) [Chatto & Windus (http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/imprint.htm?command=search&db=main.txt&allreqd=T&max=1&PubDatetype=date_dmy&bwimprintdata=Chatto&Pubdatesort=1&Pu)]

The Housekeeper And The Professor (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/asian-oceanic-literature/14069-ogawa-yoko-housekeeper-professor.html), Yoko Ogawa (Japanese, trans: Stephen Snyder) [Harvill Secker (http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/harvillsecker/)]

Thursday Night Widows, Claudia Pi?eiro (Spanish, trans: Miranda France) [Bitter Lemon Press (http://www.bitterlemonpress.com/)]

Chowringhee, Sankar (Bengali, trans: Arunava Sinha) [Atlantic (http://www.atlantic-books.co.uk/)]

The Dark Side of Love, Rafik Schami (German, trans: Anthea Bell) [Arabia Books (http://www.arabiabooks.co.uk/)]

Sunset Oasis, Bahaa Taher (Arabic, trans: Humphrey Davies) [Sceptre (http://www.hodder.co.uk/sceptre.aspx)]

Expect the shortlist in April.

[shud-shee]

I'd have chosen not the Coronation, but Diamond chariot

[Stewart]

I'd have chosen not the Coronation, but Diamond chariot
The Diamond Chariot won't be published in the UK until 2011, making it eligible for the 2012 prize.

[shud-shee]

didn't know that, I've read it in Russian.

[shud-shee]

maybe Mr Chkhartishvili would make a better translation himself...

[duygutekgul]

wow, lots of translations from Arabic!

[MultilingualMania]

UH! Too bad some of these aren't available in the US, or at least I haven't found them for a decent price yet.

[Eric]

Just out of interest, how many of the longlist are what you could term thrillers / crime novels / whodunnits?

Another thing which is interesting is that there are, as Duygutekgul says, a relatively large proportion of Arabic writers, but nothing from Chinese.

Also Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, Africa and Latin America are rather poorly represented. Just the one Russian thriller written by a Georgian, and one thriller by a Norwegian. One German is really a Syrian. And one French entry is by an American. Rather multicultural, anyway.

[Stewart]

The shortlist was announced yesterday:
The Blind Side of the Heart, Julia Franck
Brodeck's Report, Philippe Claudel
Broken Glass, Alain Mabanckou
Chowringhee, Sankar
The Dark Side of Love, Rafik Schami
Fists, Pietro Grossi

The winner will be announced on 13th May.

[Eric]

Has anyone here read anything by these authors, especially the book on the shortlist?

[Bjorn]

I've actually got Broken Glass sitting on my shelf, but my previous experience with Mabanckou didn't make me drop everything to get to it. I'll see if I can fit it in sometime in the next month.

http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/african-literature/742-alain-mabanckou-african-psycho.html

[Stevie B]

Has anyone here read anything by these authors, especially the book on the shortlist?


I read Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami when it first came out in 1995. The story is set in Damascus in the 1950s and it deals with a storyteller who has gone mute. I recall finding the book entertaining, but not particularly deep. I think the main reason the book has stayed on my shelf is because of the beautiful watercolor artwork found on the dust jacket.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/6b/d2/803de03ae7a00bc8ac7bd110.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[Eric]

One thing that interests me is from which languages these foreign books are translated. As far as I can see, the languages are:

German (Ossie then Wessie, Berlin)
French (Nancy)
French (Congo; lives in the USA)
Bengali (India)
German (comes from Syria originally)
Italian (Florence)

Six candidates, four languages. Anyway thanks Bj?rn and Stevie B for your comments.

[Stewart]

And the winner is (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10115449.stm):
Brodeck's Report, Philippe Claudel
From the article:
Judge Boyd Tonkin called Claudel's work " a beautiful and disturbing novel that finds a bewitchingly original way to talk about the tragedies of modern history."

"This book is work of art that also addresses troubling questions of human behaviour and historical conflict with courage, compassion and imagination.

"It makes a thoroughly worthy addition to the illustrious list of novels to have won this unique prize," he added.