On 27 February, the judges of the 2020 International Booker Prize reveal the ‘International Booker Dozen’, the 13 novels longlisted for the prestigious award celebrating the finest translated fiction from around the world.
The prize is awarded every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of quality fiction from all over the world and to promote the work of translators. Both novels and short-story collections are eligible. The contribution of both author and translator is given equal recognition, with the £50,000 prize split between them. Each shortlisted author and translator will receive £1,000, bringing the total value of the prize to £62,000.
This year the judges considered 124 books.
The full 2020 International Booker Prize longlist is:
|
Author |
Translator |
Title |
Publisher or Imprint |
|
Willem Anker (Afrikaans – South Africa) |
Michiel Heyns |
Red Dog |
Pushkin Press |
|
Shokoofeh Azar (Farsi – Iran) |
Anonymous |
The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree |
Europa Editions |
|
Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Spanish – Argentina) |
Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh |
The Adventures of China Iron |
Charco Press |
|
Jon Fosse (Norwegian – Norway) |
Damion Searls |
The Other Name: Septology I – II |
Fitzcarraldo Editions |
|
Nino Haratischvili (German – Georgia) |
Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin |
The Eighth Life |
Scribe UK |
|
Michel Houellebecq (French – France) |
Shaun Whiteside |
Serotonin |
William Heinemann |
|
Daniel Kehlmann (German – Germany) |
Ross Benjamin |
Tyll |
Quercus |
|
Fernanda Melchor (Spanish – Mexico) |
Sophie Hughes |
Hurricane Season |
Fitzcarraldo Editions |
|
Yoko Ogawa (Japanese – Japan) |
Stephen Snyder |
The Memory Police |
Harvill Secker |
|
Emmanuelle Pagano (French – France) |
Sophie Lewis and Jennifer Higgins |
Faces on the Tip of My Tongue |
Peirene Press |
|
Samanta Schweblin (Spanish – Argentina) |
Megan McDowell |
Little Eyes |
Oneworld |
|
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Dutch – Netherlands) |
Michele Hutchison |
The Discomfort of Evening |
Faber & Faber |
|
Enrique Vila-Matas (Spanish – Spain) |
Margaret Jull Costa and Sophie Hughes |
Mac and His Problem |
Harvill Secker |
The longlist was selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at Southbank Centre. The panel also includes: Lucie Campos, director of the Villa Gillet, France’s centre for international writing; Man Booker International Prize-winning translator and writer Jennifer Croft; LA Times Book Prize for Fiction-winning author Valeria Luiselli and writer, poet and musician Jeet Thayil, whose novel Narcopolis was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2012.
Ted Hodgkinson says:
‘What a thrill to share a longlist of such breadth and brilliance, reflecting a cumulative artistry rooted in dialogue between authors and translators, and possessing a power to enlarge the scope of lives encountered on the page, from the epic to the everyday. Whether reimagining foundational myths, envisioning dystopias of disquieting potency, or simply setting the world ablaze with the precision of their perceptions, these are books that left indelible impressions on us as judges. In times that increasingly ask us to take sides, these works of art transcend moral certainties and narrowing identities, restoring a sense of the wonderment at the expansive and ambiguous lot of humanity.’
The shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Prize will be announced on Thursday, 2 April, at an event at Ennismore Sessions House in London.
