International Booker Prize

[Stewart]

Now that the International Booker Prize seems to have finally settled on what it actually is, I'm making a section for it. It's had a bit of an identity crisis in the past, being in the past a biennial prize for a body of work (awarding Kadare, Achebe, Munro, Roth, Davis and Krasznahorkhai along the way) but it eventually merged with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, which was awarded each year for a work by a living author, with prize money split between the writer and the translator. Now, it's the non-English equivalent of the Booker Prize, since they opened the qualification to American writers.

As a book prize, so far the winners have been:

Year	Author	Title	Country	Translated From	Translated By
2016	Han Kang	The Vegetarian	South Korea	Korean	Deborah Smith
2017	David Grossman	A Horse Walks Into A Bar	Israel	Hebrew	Jessica Cohen
2018	Olga Tokarczuk	Flights	Poland	Polish	Jennifer Croft
2019	Jokha al-Harthi	Celestial Bodies	Oman	Arabic	Marilyn Booth
2020	Marieke Lucas Rijneveld	The Discomfort of Evening	Netherlands	Dutch	Michele Hutchinson

All female translators, I note.

The judges are, like the Booker, a rotating panel. And the prize is announced in May.

Has anyone read any of the book-prize winners?

 

[Bartleby]

I’m really into reading the first three (the Tokarczuk is the only by her - of the ones available in English - I haven’t read yet). Slightly interested on the fourth; no surprise but not that much into the fifth.

 

[Stewart]

I’m really into reading the first three (the Tokarczuk is the only by her - of the ones available in English - I haven’t read yet). Slightly interested on the fourth; no surprise but not that much into the fifth.

Even though I had a horrible period of time where I just wasn't reading, I didn't stop accumulating, so I have all but the Grossman on the shelves. I think that one totally passed me by. Don't think I'd even heard of while I was typing out that post.

The one thing going for them all is that they are all relatively short, and with - touch wood! - my reading mojo book, I'm sure I'll get to them soon.

 

[kpjayan]

Has anyone read any of the book-prize winners?

I've read the first 4 in this list. Planning to read the latest winner as well. Flights is an exception, Vegetarian was good, Didn't really like the Omani book.

 

[Stewart]

Flights is an exception, Vegetarian was good, Didn't really like the Omani book.

I suppose with a changing panel, tastes change too, and it doesn't received the intense focus, year on year, that a concrete judging body may show.

 

[peter_d]

I've read none of them, not even the last one (which I believe has a typo in the table: it's evening, singular without s) that was written in my native language. It always puts me off when books are hugely hyped in the media, which is what happened early 2018 when it was originally published here. I'm afraid it's my stubborn elitist way of thinking that books for a large audience are not my thing. Perhaps I should give it a try, just to overcome my prejudices.

 

[Stewart]

(which I believe has a typo in the table: it's evening, singular without s)

Fixed, thanks

 

[Liam]

It always puts me off when books are hugely hyped in the media

Completely agree, especially since most of these overhyped books/films/etc end up being a case of "The Emperor's New Clothes," but occasionally you DO come across a popular novel that's actually... quite good, LOL--it happened to me when I finally picked up Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy.

 

[BergmanFan]

It happens. Sometimes something over-hyped actually deserves the media attention and accolades. But my initial gut reaction is to stay away. It takes a bit of coaxing to get me to the table to give some of these books a chance. And these awards... sometimes the runner-up is so much better than the award winner.

 

[Americanreader]

The Vegetarian and Flights I really enjoyed, but I haven't read the other ones yet.

 

[kpjayan]

I've read none of them, not even the last one (which I believe has a typo in the table: it's evening, singular without s) that was written in my native language. It always puts me off when books are hugely hyped in the media, which is what happened early 2018 when it was originally published here. I'm afraid it's my stubborn elitist way of thinking that books for a large audience are not my thing. Perhaps I should give it a try, just to overcome my prejudices.

I have a similar prejudice, I guess. However, on the Discomfort of the Evening, I have a strong supporter in my brother, whose literary taste is, arguably, influenced by me to some extend. So, I might give it a try.

 

[Ludus]

The 2021 International Booker Prize | The Booker Prizes

David Diop, a French writer and academic, won the prize with his unsettling tale, translated by Anna Moschovakis, of two Senegalese soldiers fighting in the trenches of the First World War.

thebookerprizes.com

The International Booker Prize long-list has been announced. What an interesting list!

 

[tiganeasca]

Not only is the list itself quite interesting, I also found the judges panel to be of great interest:

Aida Edemariam

Olivette Otele

Neel Mukherjee

George Szirtes

Lucy Hughes-Hallett (chair)

 

[hayden]

The 2021 International Booker Prize | The Booker Prizes

David Diop, a French writer and academic, won the prize with his unsettling tale, translated by Anna Moschovakis, of two Senegalese soldiers fighting in the trenches of the First World War.

thebookerprizes.com

The International Booker Prize long-list has been announced. What an interesting list!

I've read two! Usually my tally comes closer to the number zero. (Minor Detail & The Perfect Nine). Enjoyed both quite a bit, the latter being one of Thiong'o's best works in my opinion.

I must admit, it's a nice looking list. I'll definitely be picking up 2-3 of those titles.

Had no idea Can Xue released a new work.

 

[OverTheMountains]

This looks like a really good mix of nominees, if judged only by the descriptions of each one. I don't need more books by Can Xue at the moment - not until I read more of the ones I have - but that one by Ngugi looks particularly interesting. I've just ordered myself a copy - maybe I'll use it as the point of reference for our discussions later this year about who we think should win the Nobel.

 

[Stiffelio]

A very promising list of nominees. I read Mariana Enriquez's The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, a thrilling collection of short stories with a nuanced tint horror and the supernatural.

 

[Bartleby]

Besides the Can Xue, which I find it hard to move to the shortlist, much less win, I’m most interested in reading When We Cease to Understand the World (Un Verdor Terrible), and In Memory of Memory, a book I had come across on goodreads a while back, and seems a strong contender to win this prize.

actually I might just start In Memory right away, since its fragmented approach best suits my present, unfocused state of mind: I can move at a slow pace, reading a short piece at a time.

 

[Johnny]

Besides the Can Xue, which I find it hard to move to the shortlist, much less win, I’m most interested in reading When We Cease to Understand the World (Un Verdor Terrible), and In Memory of Memory, a book I had come across on goodreads a while back, and seems a strong contender to win this prize.

actually I might just start In Memory right away, since its fragmented approach best suits my present, unfocused state of mind: I can move at a slow pace, reading a short piece at a time.

Yes, actually ordered it this morning. Looks very interesting. I’m not familiar with the author but she seems to be very highly regarded in Russia.

 

[redhead]

I’ve read the Can Xue’s I Live in the Slums and Vuillard’s War of the Poor, and I don’t see either of them making it to the shortlist. The Can Xue because I see it being too divisive (although other than the weak “almost titular” novella, I enjoyed the collection as much as her other works), the Vuillard because it just seems too slight.

I’m curious about Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s book, though I don’t think I’ll get to it before the shortlist is announced.

 

[Liam]

I don't know if it's been commented on, but with the inclusion of Ngugi wa Thiongo they seem to have expanded eligibility from novels and short stories to novels-in-verse, as well.

I think this is interesting in itself, because while being "novels" such works are still primarily guided by certain poetic parameters (in this case, those of the oral epic).

Also, if he wins, Ngugi won't have to share the prize money with his translator(s),