Kinna

Shortlists for two prizes announced

The 2010 shortlists for both  The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and The IMPAC were announced last week while I was away.

The books on the shortlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize are:

  • Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel (tr. John Cullen; French) – a story of post Second World War France narrated by a survivor of Nazi concentration camps.
  • The Blind Side of the Heart (tr. Anthea Bell; German) – about a woman who cuts emotionally ties with her 7-year old son
  • Fists by Pietro Grossi (tr. Howard Curtis; Italian) – a collection of three stories about young boys and their transformation into young adults.
  • Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou (tr. Helen Stevenson; French) – about the patrons, including one nicknamed Broken Glass, of a run-down bar in the Congo
  • Chowringhee by Sankar (tr. Arunava Sinha; Bengali) – story of a group of individuals who operate an exclusive hotel in Calcutta
  • The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami (tr. Anthea Bell; German) – a story of forbidden love set against the background of Arabic culture

The winners – the writer and the translator of the winning book –  will be announced on May 13, 2010.

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is one of my favorites award schemes.  The prize is open to the whole world so it is a gem for discovering new translated works.  Nominations can only be made by libraries, which is great, so one assumes that indirectly readers can influence the nominations.  The books on this year’s shortlist are:

  • The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Dutch) in translation.
  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (French) in translation.
  • In Zodiac Light by Robert Edric (British)
  • Settlement by Christoph Hein (German) in translation.
  • The Believers by Zoë Heller (British).
  • Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (Irish)
  • God’s Own Country by Ross Raisin (British)
  • Home by Marilynne Robinson (American)

The winner will be announced on June 17, 2010.  Take a look at the longlist; it contains lots of interesting books.  BTW, Keven from Canada is running a Pick the 2010 IMPAC winner contest.

Have you read any of these books? Have plans to read any?

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5 comments

  1. I haven’t read any of the books mentioned, although Netherland did catch my eye when it came out, because it sounds so much like my countries name :P. I see there’s a Dutch book on there as well, also a Dutch book that isn’t very popular in the Netherlands at this point, so I might want to give it a try.

    Both the prizes look really interesting, and I had never heard of them both, but then again I’m fairly new to looking at long- and short-lists for prizes.

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  2. Both lists look really interesting. I don’t believe I’ve heard of the IMPAC award before. I haven’t read a single book from the lists, but have to say that I really want to check out some of (or all of!) the titles from the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Thanks for posting these!

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  3. The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize list looks interesting. I’m hoping I’ll be able to pick up one or two from that short list soon.

    Unfortunately the IMPAC judges don’t seem to have the same taste as me this year. I’ve read four of the short listed titles (Home, Netherland, Hedgehog and Believers) and didn’t enjoy any of them. They are all quite similar in their slow, thoughtful style, so am not tempted to rush out and get the others on the list until I hear that they are different in pace.

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