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
(Original language –Country/territory)

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.