This evening, Man Booker International Prize organizers announced the six-book shortlist for the 2019 prize. Author Jokha al-Harthi and translator Marilyn Booth made the list with Celestial Bodies:
Tokarczuk, as translated by Jennifer Croft, previously won the Man Booker International in 2018 for Flights.
According to organizers:
This year’s stories include the pilgrimage of a lecturer on beard fashions over the pine islands of Matsushima, a tale of Colombian conspiracy theories, and an environmental whodunnit with a cast of eccentric characters. Family connections and history are also present in the coming-of-age account of three Omani sisters, the story of three children of ex-militants overcoming Chile’s complex past, and an evocative narrative of France from 1941 to 2006 which blends the personal and the collective to present memories of a generation.
This year’s panel of judges is being chaired by historian Bettany Hughes, and includes writer, translator and chair of English PEN Maureen Freely; philosopher Professor Angie Hobbs; novelist and satirist Elnathan John and essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra.
The £50,000 prize for the winning book, set to be announced on May 21, will be divided equally between its author and translator.
Also:
Marilyn Booth on Turning ‘Sayyidat al-Qamr’ into ‘Celestial Bodies’
Listen to more on Bulaq Episode 29