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International Booker 2022 Shortlist Includes Five Out Of Six Books Written By Women

Women novelists wrote five of the six shortlisted books, one of which was a Hindi novel for the first time.

Priya Prakash

09 Apr 2022 07:05 IST

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One of the most prestigious awards in translated literature is the International Booker Prize, which honours both the author and the translator for outstanding translation work. The six-book shortlisted and names of the final candidates were presented on April 7.

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Women novelists wrote five of the six shortlisted books, one of which was a Hindi novel for the first time. Previous winners Olga Tokarczuk and Jennifer Croft are on the shortlist for 2022, as are authors whose works are being translated into English for the first time. Korean, Norwegian, Japanese, Spanish, Hindi, and Polish are among the six languages on the shortlist. The jury said in a press statement released after the announcement that "wildly original works of literature that will captivate readers, this year's shortlisted books all explore trauma, whether on an individual or societal level."

Here are all the International Booker 2022 Shortlists:

Cursed Bunny

Cursed Bunny is a collection of short stories written by Korean novelist Bora Chung. Her novel, according to the jury, "addresses the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in current society using elements of the fantastic and surreal." Anton Hur, a Swedish native who has lived in South Korea for the past 30 years, translated the book. Hur made the longlist twice this year, with his translation of Korean novelist Sang Young Park's Love in the Big City also making the list of the 13 nominees revealed by the Booker committee earlier this year.

Heaven

Mieko Kawakami's novel Heaven portrays the narrative of a 14-year-old who is bullied by his peers but accepts his victim position with resignation. The jury stated in its judgement, "This is a haunting tale of the threat of violence that can stalk our teenage years." Sam Bett and David Boyd have translated the novel.

Tomb of Sand

The book by Indian author Geetanjali Shree has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize for the first time. The story follows an 80-year-old woman from northern India who decides to travel to Pakistan in order to confront her teenage trauma from India's 1947 division. "An engaging protest against the destructive impact of borders," the jury concluded. Daisy Rockwell, an American painter, writer, and translator, has translated the novel.

The Books of Jacob

The Books of Jacob, written by 2018 Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk, transport readers to Europe's Enlightenment era and take them on a trip with Jacob Frank, a young Jew of mysterious origins who attracts a devoted following. He converts to Islam and, subsequently, to Catholicism as he travels across the Habsburg and Ottoman empires. Jennifer Croft, whose translation of Tokarczuk's Flights received the International Booker Prize in 2018, has translated the book.

Elena Knows

With her novel, Argentinian Claudia Pineiro reintroduces the genre of crime fiction, telling the narrative of a mother who goes out to find her daughter's killers after the case is closed. The jury described the novel as "a unique story that interweaves crime fiction with intimate tales of morality and the desire for individual freedom." It was translated by Frances Riddle.

A New Name: Septology VI-VII'

This is the seventh and last book in a series of seven by Norwegian author Jon Fosse, who is the only male nominee on the shortlist. The plot follows Asle, a painter who lives with his pals on the Norwegian coast but is troubled by his doppelgänger, a guy who lives an entirely different life.

Meanwhile, the winner will be announced on May 26. The award money of 50,000 pounds will be split between the work's author and translator. In addition, each of the shortlisted authors and translators will receive a monetary award of 2,500 pounds.

International Booker Prize Tomb Of Sand

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