Angolan writer Jose Eduardo Agualusa, author of the novel "A General Theory Of Oblivion" and its translator Daniel Hahn (Great Britain), "The Story of the Lost Child" by Elena Ferrante, (Anne Goldstein - USA), South Korean Han Kang with the novel "The Vegetarian ” (Debora Smith - Great Britain), “A Strange Feeling in Me” by the Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk (Ekin Oklap - Turkey), Austrian writer Robert Sithaler's novel “A Whole Life” (Charlotte Collins - Great Britain) and the Chinese Ian Lianke with "The Four Books", (Carlos Rojas - USA) were shortlisted from six titles for this year's Booker Prize, an award for the best contemporary prose translated into English. The winner will be announced on May 16, and the £50.000 prize will be shared between the award-winning author and his translator.
Jamaican Marlon James won the Booker last year for the novel "A Brief History of Seven Killings", which is based on the attempted murder of the popular reggae musician Bob Marley.
The settings of this year's nominated novels range from war-torn Angola to Camorra-terrorizing Naples, from the mountains of Austria to a sprawling sprawling Istanbul, from metamorphosis in South Korea to allegorical transformation during the Great Famine in China.
Five authors were nominated for the most prestigious Anglo-Saxon literary award for the first time (Ian Lianke appeared on the list of finalists in 2013). There are two winners of the "Independent Foreign Fiction Prize": Agualusa (2007) and Pamuk (1990). This is the first time that writers from Angola, Austria, South Korea and Turkey are on the list for the Booker.
The translators are mostly women, from Great Britain or the USA. The youngest are Turkish born in London Ekin Oklap (27) and Deborah Smith (28) who started learning Korean at the age of 21.
This year, 2016, is a new year for the Booker International Prize. This is the first year since the Independent foreign fiction prize has been added to this recognition, and it is the first time that it is awarded annually, with a wider selection announced. Until now, the International Booker has been awarded every other year to a writer for his entire work, which is a tradition that, as explained by the chairman of the Man Booker Foundation, Jonathan Taylor, has made the prize lose its importance. Winners of the International Booker for the whole work are Lydia Davis (2013), Philip Roth (2011) and Alice Munro (2009).
The jury is chaired by "Independent" journalist Boyd Tonkin, there are also novelist and anthropologist Tahmima Anam, professor David Bellos, head of the translation department at Princeton University, editor and professor Daniel Medin and poet and writer Ruth Padel. NV
To every limit of prose
Boyd Tonkin, chairman of the jury believes that this exciting shortlist will take readers around the world to every frontier of prose.
"In first-class translations, which are themselves a unique and precious art, these six books will tell unforgettable stories from China and Angola, Austria and Turkey, Italy and South Korea. In subject matter, they range from Mao-era re-education camps and remote alpine valleys to the modern turmoil and transformation of cities such as Naples and Istanbul. In form, they range from a sensitive mosaic of interwoven lives in post-colonial Africa to a hypnotic fable of domestic abuse and rebellion in East Asia. Our selection shows that the best books in translation not only expand the boundaries of our world but also of the art of prose itself. We hope that readers everywhere will share in our pleasure and excitement of the shortlist," commented Tonkin.
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