The six novels shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize transport readers from Japan-ruled Taiwan in the 1930s to Nazi-controlled Europe during the second World War, from magic and domesticity in France in the 1990s to the turmoil and after-effects of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, from a brutal prison colony in a remote corner of Brazil to a strict patriarchal community in the Albanian Alps.
A diverse cast of richly realised characters is captured, including a suburban witch, a morally compromised film-maker, a bloodthirsty prison warden, a sworn virgin with a new identity, a young novelist and her interpreter who share a passion for food, and a multigenerational family of Iranian emigrants.
Five of the six authors and four of the six translators are women.
The £50,000 prize money is divided equally between the winning author and translator/s. The winner will be announced on May 19th at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London. The shortlist was chosen a panel chaired by author Natasha Brown, featuring Marcus du Sautoy; Sophie Hughes; Troy Onyango; and Nilanjana S Roy.
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“Our shortlist offers readers a six-stop tour of highlights from the world of translated fiction,“ Brown said. “With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history. While there’s heartbreak, brutality, and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energising. Rereading each book, we judges found hope, insight and burning humanity – along with unforgettable characters to whom I’m sure readers will return again and again.”
The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by debutant Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin, is “timely, tender, political and wonderfully human. It follows an Iranian family from revolution into exile, exploring a dream of freedom that never dies”.
She Who Remains, another debut by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel, is “an exquisitely written, brilliantly observed story about a young woman in a contemporary Albanian tribal society, and a blood feud that sets off her journey to self-discovery”.
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin, explores “how GW Pabst descended into the morally dubious position of making films for the Nazis. It uses audacious and sparklingly comic writing to tell a dark story”.
On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan is just 101 pages, “a brutal, haunting and hypnotic novella set in a remote Brazilian penal colony where the boundaries between justice and cruelty collapse. Spare, unflinching and relentless”.
The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump almost 30 years after its original publication, is “a darkly comic and beautifully crafted novel where magic and reality collide to create an unconventional exploration of motherhood”.
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, the first shortlisting for a Taiwanese writer, follows “a Japanese woman on a government-sponsored tour of 1930s Taiwan. This is an insightful post-colonial novel that reads like a delicious romance”.
Edinburgh-based Charco Press appears on the shortlist for the fourth time with On Earth As It Is Beneath, while Peirene Press, based in Bath, makes its first appearance with She Who Remains. London’s Scribe UK makes its third shortlist appearance with The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran, while Sheffield’s And Other Stories – publishers of last year’s winning book Heart Lamp – is in contention with Taiwan Travelogue. MacLehose Press and Riverrun, part of the Hachette group, make up the remainder of the shortlist, with The Witch and The Director respectively.
This year marks 10 years since the announcement of the first winner of the International Booker Prize in its current form; The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith, was awarded the inaugural prize in 2016. Since its launch, the prize has promoted 10 winners in 10 languages from Arabic to Polish, Bulgarian to Kannada. Four authors recognised by the International Booker Prize have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature: Han Kang, Jon Fosse, Annie Ernaux and Olga Tokarczuk.
