Irish translator Frank Wynne has been shortlisted for a second time for the Booker International Prize, which otherwise breaks new ground. The shortlist features three novels from Europe (Bulgaria, France and Spain) and one apiece from Asia (South Korea), Africa (Côte d’Ivoire) and Central America (Mexico).
Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated by Wynne from French, is the first novel by a writer from Côte d’Ivoire to feature. It tells the story of colonialism and consumerism from the perspective of an undocumented security guard in Paris.
The shortlist
Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated from Catalan by Julia Sanches
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim
The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated from French by Richard Philcox
Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated from French by Frank Wynne
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated from Spanish by Rosalind Harvey
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, described in La Repubblica as ‘a Proust from the East’, is the first Bulgarian novel shortlisted. Translated by Angela Rodel, it warns of the dangers of nostalgia.
Boulder by Eva Baltasar, which explores the challenges of motherhood, is the first novel translated from Catalan to be nominated.
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan was described by the Financial Times as ‘A distinctly Korean take on Great Expectations.’ Whale was Myeong-kwan’s first novel and was published in Korean 20 years ago.
Maryse Condé, born in Guadeloupe, is widely recognised as ‘the grande dame of Caribbean literature.’ She dictated The Gospel According to the New World to Richard Philcox, her husband and translator, having lost her sight. At age 89, she is the oldest writer to ever be shortlisted for the prize, having been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2015. Condé has said that The Gospel According to the New World is her last novel.
The shortlist was announced by the chair of judges, Franco-Moroccan author Leïla Slimani, at the London Book Fair, who said that as a reader she came looking for emotion, to be haunted by a voice, like seeking to replicate the passion of first love. “I couldn’t understand why my mother was calling me for dinner when Anna Karenina was dying.
“I think I speak for the whole jury when I say that I am proud of this list,” Slimani said. “I think it’s a very cool, very sexy list. We wanted each book to feel like an astonishment and to stand on its own.
‘These books are all bold, subversive, nicely perverse. I also feel that these are sensual books, where the question of the body is important. What is it like to have a body? All these authors also question the narrative and what it means to write a novel today.
‘What is extraordinary about literature is that when a novel is successful, it works for anyone, anywhere. There’s something really magical about storytelling. And we have had the joy of experiencing this by reading the books on this list. We have been caught up in these stories, dazzled, fascinated and it is these emotions that we want to share. I’m very happy to offer this list to readers – a list of remarkable variety, where they will find poetry, fantasy, eroticism and metaphysics.’
Fiammetta Rocco, administrator of the prize, said: “Just under half the translated fiction sold in Britain is bought by people under 35, according to new research conducted by Nielsen for the Booker Prize Foundation. This is an astonishing statistic, and is part of a far wider cultural trend in which more and more films, TV series and music originating in languages other than English have become part of the global mainstream. Young people are curious, adventurous and engaged – and have a very porous sense of national borders. This presents an enormous opportunity that no publisher or bookseller of fiction in translation should ignore. We look forward to seeing this exciting shortlist, expertly chosen by the judges, reaching the hands of readers – young and old – around the world.”
The shortlist was chosen by the International Booker Prize 2023 judges from a longlist of 13 titles announced in March, which was selected from 134 books published in the UK or Ireland between May 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023 and submitted to the prize by publishers.
The winner will be announced in London on May 23rd. The winners’ £50,000 prize purse will be divided equally between the author and translator. Authors and translators of each of the six shortlisted books will receive a prize of £5,000 at the ceremony: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator.
The International Booker Prize – the world’s most significant award for a single work of fiction translated into English – is shared equally by the winning author and translator, in recognition of the latter’s vital contribution in taking the best literature beyond the borders of its original language. The prize is awarded annually for a novel or short story collection originally written in any language, translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.
The prize exists not only to shine a light on the best fiction originally written in languages other than English, but also to emphasise why reading such fiction matters to us all. Maryse Condé said that ‘translation has always been treated like a poor cousin and needs to be recognised in the literary landscape’, while Wynne said that ‘literature in translation is the most powerful way of fostering empathy, of nurturing curiosity, of developing an understanding not only of others, but of ourselves.’ Eva Baltasar said: ‘The fact that translation can take literature outside the borders of its original language is a gift. Translation moves treasures from one place to another, expanding our heritage, leaving no one the poorer.’
Quotes from the shortlistees, and judges’ comments about the shortlisted books
Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated from Catalan by Julia Sanches
The author said: ‘I wrote three Boulders. Three different novels with the same title and the same intention: portraying a boulder-like character. The first and second iterations were a struggle, the product of two and a half years of constant writing. But I wasn’t in love with those characters. I need to want to be with my characters, to love them through language.’
The judges said: ‘A very intense, poetic, sensual book about all kinds of appetites. A feverish exploration of desire, a vibrant love story between two women, lyrical and simmering, written with lucidity and great freedom of tone. An impressive work of translation.’
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim
The author said: ‘Whale is my first novel. As I wrote it quite a long time ago, I was stunned that it was longlisted for the International Booker Prize this year, and that makes it all the more exciting. The publication of Whale changed my life, and it feels like it is still a propulsive force in my life.’
The judges said: ‘This book will fill you with awe. You’ve never read a plot like it: just read it, and be swept away by the sheer joy and energy of the storytelling. It reminded some of us of a seventies comedy show: Cheon Myeong-Kwan has built a believable story out of preposterous situations. The characters aren’t nice – but they’re irresistible. It’s a book to be swallowed by and to live inside for a while. And the ending is so moving it will have you in bits.’
The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated from French by Richard Philcox
The author said: ‘Because of my loss of vision, I had to dictate the text to a friend as well as my husband. This obliged me to write each chapter in my head. I was sensitive to sound and meaning because the writer is also a musician. The process was delicate and complex. I endeavoured to give to the person I was dictating to the version I had written out in my head.’
The judges said: ‘A joyful and optimistic book by a great storyteller, about the possibility of changing the world. Maryse Condé plays with our need to believe in a messiah, and retells one of the oldest stories with a lot of irony. It’s a deceptively simple novel full of wisdom, generosity of spirit and the writer’s palpable tenderness towards the world and her craft.’
Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated from French by Frank Wynne
The author said: ‘In order to write this book, I began by taking notes while I was on duty [as a security guard]. It’s a job where there’s nothing to do but watch. I immediately understood that this was ideal for observing without being seen. I was at the very heart of the absurdity of consumerist society.’
The judges said: ‘This book is about the anti-flâneurs: not the rich white men who roam the boulevards of Paris but poorly paid Black men whose jobs require them to stand still. As a security guard, the Ivorian protagonist of Standing Heavy is invisible but sees everything. Told in a fragmentary style – as if from different camera angles – this is the story of colonialism and consumerism, of the specifics of power, and of the hope of the sixties diminishing as society turns cynical and corrupt.’
Wynne was shortlisted in 2018 for his translation of Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes, and was the chair of last year’s judging panel.
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel
The author said: ‘I come from a system that sold a “bright future” under communism. Now the stakes have shifted, and populists are selling a “bright past”. I know via my own skin that both cheques bounce, they are backed by nothing.’
The judges said: ‘The conceit – a time clinic – will make you want to burst out laughing, and it’s full of lines you’ll want to copy out. It’s an inventive novel with an unexpectedly cheeky tone to it. But it’s also a subversive masterclass in the absurdities of national identity: so relevant now. Part of a tradition of East Central Europe that includes Milan Kundera, Dubravka Ugrešić and Danilo Kiš, it’s a fresh staging of old questions: the danger of selective memory, the inheritance of trauma, and how nostalgia can take a grip on society and become a comfort blanket – or a cancer.’
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated from Spanish by Rosalind Harvey
The author said: ‘In the beginning, my intention was to write the story of my friend and her little daughter, which I’ve found incredibly inspiring, both terrible and beautiful at the same time. I wanted to show that it is possible to transform this painful experience into a meaningful one.’
The judges said: ‘The plot grabs you so organically it’s as though you’ve been abducted by reading – you feel like you live with these characters. At the end of the book you’ll want to call a friend and ask them to read it too, because none of it is black and white. In writing about how difficult it is to be a mother, Nettel balances empathy and cruelty, and deals brilliantly with all the moral complexity of maternity. The product of a deep wisdom, it’s honest, unsentimental and compassionate about the choices we think we’re making, and the choices that are foisted upon us.’
