The Man Booker International Prize is now in its second year, having gone last year to Han Kang and Deborah Smith for The Vegetarian. This is one of the largest-ticket prizes out there for translations, with a £50,000 purse split equally between author and translator. And now the 2017 has been announced, and look at all the beautiful books on it!
- Mathias Enard (France), trans. Charlotte Mandell, Compass (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- Wioletta Greg (Poland), trans. Eliza Marciniak, Swallowing Mercury (Portobello Books)
- David Grossman (Israel), trans. Jessica Cohen, A Horse Walks Into a Bar (Jonathan Cape)
- Stefan Hertmans (Belgium), trans. David McKay, War and Turpentine (Harvill Secker)
- Roy Jacobsen (Norway), trans. Don Bartlett, Don Shaw, The Unseen (Maclehose)
- Ismail Kadare (Albania), trans. John Hodgson, The Traitor’s Niche (Harvill Secker)
- Jon Kalman Stefansson (Iceland), trans. Phil Roughton, Fish Have No Feet (Maclehose)
- Yan Lianke (China), trans. Carlos Rojas, The Explosion Chronicles (Chatto & Windus)
- Alain Mabanckou (France), trans. Helen Stevenson, Black Moses (Serpent’s Tail)
- Clemens Meyer (Germany), trans. Katy Derbyshire, Bricks and Mortar (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- Dorthe Nors (Denmark), trans. Misha Hoekstra, Mirror, Shoulder, Signal (Pushkin Press)
- Amos Oz (Israel), trans. Nicholas de Lange, Judas (Chatto & Windus)
- Samanta Schweblin (Argentina), trans. Megan McDowell, Fever Dream (Oneworld)
I’m disappointed to see only three female authors on the thirteen-author list this year, though (last year’s list had four, which was already disappointing). All the more reason we need a prize for women in translation, though of course the existence of the Warwick Prize shouldn’t mean we’re reserving all other prizes for men. In any case, there are more women than men on this year’s jury (Nick Barley, Daniel Hahn, Helen Mort, Elif Shafak, Chika Unigwe).
The shortlist will be announced on April 20, the winner on June 14. Wishing the best of luck to all the longlisted translators!