This year’s 13-book list consists of books selected from a total of 134 books published between 1 May 2022 and 30 April 2023. The £50,000 International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a novel or short story collection that was written originally in any other language and then its translation into English was published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The prize money is split into two equal parts – one for the author and the other for translators.
The submissions are made by publishers. Let us take a look at the list:
A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding by Amanda Svensson
Amanda Svensson is the Swedish translator of Ali Smith’s novels. Her own novel is about a triplet, a brother and two sisters, one of whom got changed with some other baby and it the mystery of which one it was that impacted their life. It is translated by Nichola Smalley from Swedish.
Boulder by Eva Baltasar
Boulder is one of the shortest novels in the list. It is translated by Julia Sanches from Catalan. Its unnamed protagonist is a woman nicknamed Boulder by Samsa, a woman she falls in love with. The magical and sometimes comic prose of the novel is its biggest attraction as Boulder follows the gradual loss of freedom in a relationship.
Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth
‘Is Mother Dead’ is a novel by Vigdis Hjorth and translated from Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund. As the title would suggest, it is about the relationship between a mother and her child.
Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi
Translated by Jeremy Tiang from Chinese, Ninth Building It is a collection of vignettes of author’s experience from his years growing up during the Cultural Revolution.
Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv by Andrey Kurkov
Andrey Kurkov is one of the most famous Ukrainian novelists. His book is translated from Russian by Reuben Woolley.
Pyre by Perumal Murugan
Perumal Murugan declared himself “dead” as a writer after the Hindu right-wing protests against his work. Pyre, translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, is the second Indian and first Tamil novel to make it to the International Booker long list. Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shri went on to win the International Booker for its English translation by Daisy Rockwell, who was the first such book last year. Pyre is about the fate of an intercaste couple in a society that doesn’t accept such marriages.
Standing Heavy by GauZ
Translated from French by Frank Wynne, Standing Heavy is about two generations of Ivoirians as they try to make their way as undocumented workers in Paris.
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov
Translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter is an innovative novel about the opening of a “clinic for the past”. Supposed to offer a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers, the clinic is so made that each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, and thus lets patients move into a time they are comfortable. Using this context, the author explores our relationship with time and memory. It is the first novel translated from the Bulgarian language to make it to the International Booker List.
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel
Still Born is the second novel from Spain to make it to this list. Translated by Rosalind Harvey, it contrasts the lives of two career-driven women who grapple with whether or not to have children. One of them gets sterilized, while the other is later attracted to the idea of being a mother, only to have complications in her pregnancy.
The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier
The Birthday Party is translated from French by Daniel Levin Becker and is thus the second novel from French to make it to the long list. The plot of the novel unfolds within the span of a day in an isolated hamlet in France.
The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé
Maryse Condé from the Caribbean is the oldest writer ever to be longlisted for the prize at the age of 89. ‘The Gospel According to the New World’ was dictated to her husband Richard Philcox as she suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder. The disorder has made it difficult for her to speak and see. Her husband is also the translator of the novel from french making Condé and Philcox the first wife-and-husband author-translator couple to be longlisted for the award.
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan
Cheon Myeong-kwan is also a film-maker. His book is a collection of short stories that relates to lives of interrelatedcharacters in a small village in South Korea. It is translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim. It is a collection of stories about the lives of linked characters in a remote village in South Korea.
While We Were Dreaming by Clemens Meyer
Clemens Meyer and the translator of the German novel Katy Derbyshire are the only writer and translator in this year’s list that have been nominated for International Booker before. It is also the only debut novel in this list. Their previous nomination was for Bricks and Mortar which made it to the the first longlist and then the shortlist in 2017. First published in 2007, While We Were Dreaming is Meyer’s debut novel. It is about three friends growing up in Leipzig at the time of reunification.
Wrapping up
This year’s Internatinal Booker long list is a true celebration of the diversity. The 13 books are from 11 languages, 3 of which (Bulgarian, Catalan, and Tamil) have made it to the list for the first time. Three french languages novels made it to the list though one of them is Caribbean amd another from Africa. The other languages include Chinese, German, Norwegian, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. There are three books from Asia (China, India and Russia), and a book each from Africa, and Caribbean. The rest of the books are from European world. Also, there are three writers in this list GauZ’, Zou Jingzhi and Amanda Svensson – whose works have been translated in English for the first time.
The short list shall be compiled from these 13 works on 18 April at London Book Fair. The winner of the International Booker shall be announced 23 May.