How does it feel to be longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024, and what would winning the prize mean to you? Would it also have an impact on literature originating from your country?
I’ve been nominated for international literary awards a dozen times or so over the past 20 years, but I’ve never made it as far as winning the actual award. I figured this time would be the same. But for some reason I feel a little more excited about this one. Maybe it’s because I feel that I don’t have much time left, or because of my affection for this book, which I wrote while in seclusion during the pandemic in a part of the country that was unfamiliar to me. If I were to win this time, I think it would give me the fuel I need to complete the next three novels that I’ve been planning to write.