Hassan Blasim on Shortlist for New Swedish ‘Kulturhuset Stadsteaterns’ Prize for Translations

Hassan Blasim’s Iraqi Christ, translated into Swedish by Jonathan Moren, is one of six book nominated for the new 100,000 krona (~$11,700) Kulturhuset Stadsteaterns litteraturpris:

The prize was established last year, and the winner will be announced next month.

Ther other authors and translators on the list are Jenny Erpenbeck, as translated by Ulrika Wall Power; Olga Tokarczuk as translated by Jan Henrik Swahn; George Saunders, as translated by Niclas Nilsson; Stefan Hertmans as translated by Ingrid Bonde Wikén; and Dorothee Elmigers, as translated by Annika Ruth Persson.

The prize will be divided between the author and translator, with 75K to the author and 25K to the translator.

This follows Blasim and Finnish translator Sampsa Peltonen’s shortlisting for the 2016 HelMet Literary Prize, presented by Helsinki-area libraries.

Blasim also recently saw his playwriting debut staged in Finland. For Anglophone fans, Blasim will be at the Ilkley Literature Festival on October 14 at 7:30 p.m. to talk about the forthcoming collection he’s edited, Iraq + 100. It’s set to be published by Comma Press.