By Dennis Abrams
There are ten writers on the judges’ list of finalists for the sixth Man Booker International Prize, the £60,000 award given to recognize one writer for his or her achievement in fiction.
The authors represent ten countries with six new nationalities included on the list for the first time: Libya, Mozambique, Guadeloupe, Hungary, South Africa, and Congo.
The ten authors on the list are:
Cesar Aira (Argentina)
Hoda Barakat (Lebanon)
Maryse Conde (Guadeloupe)
Mia Couto (Mozambique)
Amitav Ghosh (India)
Fanny Howe (United States of America)
Ibrahim al-Koni (Libya)
Laszlo Krasznahorkai (Hungary)
Alain Mabanckou (Republic of Congo)
Marlene van Niekerk (South Africa)
(Two of the ten authors, Mia Couto and Alain Mabanckou, have recently been interviewed by Publishing Perspectives. Read those interviews here and here.)
The chair of judges, Professor Marina Warner, said on making the announcement:
“The judges have had an exhilarating experience reading for this prize; we have ranged across the world and entered the vision of writers who offer an extraordinary variety of experiences. Fiction can enlarge the world for us all and stretch our understanding and our sympathy. The novel today is in fine form: as a field of inquiry, a tribunal of history, a map of the heart, a probe of the psyche, a stimulus to thought, a well of pleasure and a laboratory of language. Truly, we feel closer to the tree of knowledge.”
Manny Roman, CEO of Man Group, added:
“We are very proud to sponsor the Man Booker International Prize, recognising the hard work and creativity of these talented authors and translators. The prize underscores Man Group’s charitable focus on literacy and education, as well as our commitment to excellence and entrepreneurship. Together with the wider charitable activities of the Booker Prize Foundation, the prize plays a very important role in promoting literary excellence that we are honoured to support. It’s exciting to see finalists from ten countries, with six nationalities included on the list for the first time, further broadening Man Booker’s international reach. Many congratulations to all the finalists.”
The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language. The winner will be announced on May 19 at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.