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International Booker Prize longlist signals second ‘boom’ in Latin American fiction
South American authors account for almost a quarter of this year’s International Booker Prize longlist, with books representing Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela in what organisers say is a second “boom” in Latin American fiction.
They include Not a River (Charco Press) by Argentinian writer Selva Almada, translated from the Spanish by Annie McDermott, and Simpatía (Seven Stories Press UK) by Venezuelan writer Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, translated from the Spanish by Noel Hernández González and Daniel Hahn.
Crooked Plow (Verso Fiction) by Brazilian writer Itamar Vieira Junior, translated from Portuguese by Johnny Lorenz, is also nominated alongside Undiscovered (Pushkin Press) by Peruvian writer Gabriela Wiener, translated from the Spanish by Julia Sanches.
The longlist continues to be dominated by independent publishers, with nine independents represented, including two, Seven Stories Press UK and MTO Press, for the first time.
The 13 longlisted works are translated from 10 original languages: Albanian, Dutch, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. The inaugural winner of the prize in 2005, Ismail Kadare, makes the longlist, with A Dictator Calls (Harvill Secker) translated from the Albanian by John Hodgson, while nine authors and nine translators are longlisted for the first time.
Scribe Publications UK secured two nominations with Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae, and What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma, translated from Dutch by Sarah Timmer Harvey.
Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov garners a nomination for The Silver Bone: The Kyiv Mysteries (MacLehose Press), translated from Russian by Boris Dralyuk, alongside Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos (Granta Books), translated from the German by Michael Hofmann.
Wildfire Books makes an appearance with Ia Genberg’s The Details translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson, while Urszula Honek’s White Nights (MTO Press), translated from Polish by Kate Webster, is also longlisted.
Italian works Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo (Virago) and The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone (Europa Editions), translated by Leah Janeczko and Oonagh Stransky respectively, complete the list.
The longlist was made from 149 books published between 1st May 2023 and 30th April 2024 and submitted by publishers – the highest number since the prize was relaunched in its current format in 2016.
This year’s judging panel is chaired by broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Wachtel alongside poet Natalie Diaz, novelist Romesh Gunesekera, visual artist William Kentridge and writer, editor and translator Aaron Robertson.
Wachtel said: “From a protest on the top of a factory chimney in South Korea to a transformative fishing trip in remote Argentina, from the violent streets of Kyiv in 1919 to a devastating sexual relationship in 1980s East Berlin, our longlisted books offer stunning evocations of place and time. Here are voices that reflect original angles of observation. In compelling, at times lyrical, modes of expression, they tell stories that give us insight into – among other things – the ways political power drives our lives.”
She added: “I’ve always looked to fiction as a way to inhabit other places, other sensibilities. And through my experience of interviewing international authors I have come to marvel at the ability of translators to expand those worlds, to deepen our understanding of different cultures, and to build a global community of readers not constricted by borders. That same excitement informed the discussions with my fellow panellists since last summer. It’s stimulating to hear about a book that’s been read from a different perspective and presented in a most articulate way. As William Kentridge put it, we are looking to be ‘complicit in the making of the meaning of a book’.
“What my fellow jurors and I hoped to find are books that, together, we could recommend to English-speaking readers. After narrowing down 149 submitted titles to these 13, we are delighted to say: ‘Here, we’ve scoured the world and brought back these gifts’.”
Fiammetta Rocco, administrator of the International Booker Prize, noted the list “highlights the growing pool of talented South American writers, signalling a second ‘boom’ in Latin American fiction”.
She continued: “When asked last year why Ireland has the best writers, after four Irish authors appeared on the Booker Prize longlist for 2023, the eventual winner Paul Lynch said: ‘Can I let you into a secret? I think South America has the best writers.’ It has been fantastic to see two Latin American titles shortlisted in previous years recently become successful Netflix adaptations: ‘Elena Knows’ and ‘Hurricane Season’."
The shortlist of six books will be revealed on 9th April and the winning title will be announced at a ceremony on 21st May. The contribution of author and translator is given equal recognition, with the £50,000 prize split evenly between them.
Last year’s winner was Time Shelter (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) by Georgi Gospodinov and translated by Angela Rodel.
