International Booker – publisher predictions #2

There might be 3 major publishers that take up most of the longlist spots, but the International Booker would be nothing without the never-heard-of-awesome-translated-fic that shows up on announcement day.

And other stories

The past 3 years, And other stories have had 1 book on the longlist each year. Eligible books:

• Veridgris by Michele Mari, translated from Italian by Brian Robert Moore.
• The hunger of women by Marosia Castaldi, translated from Italian by Jamie Richards.
• Star 111 by Lutz Seiler, translated from German by Tess Lewis.
• You, bleeding childhood by Michele Mari, translated from Italian by Brian Robert Moore.
• Shalash, the Iraqi by Salash, translated from Arabic by Luke Leafgren.

Out of these I would pick Shalash, the Iraqi as my longlister. Its origin as scattered blog posts, the importance of storytelling in times of war, would make it an important and unfortunately relevant longlister.

Charco press

Since 2018 Charco Press has had 1 book on the longlist every other year. If the pattern continues then there will be 1 Charco press on this year’s longlist.

• Fresh dirt from the grave by Giovanna Rivero, translated by Juana Adcock.
• A little luck by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle.
• Confession by Martín Kohan, translated by Daniel Hahn.
• The delivery by Margarita García Robayo, translated by Megan McDowell.
• Not a river by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott.
• The dark side of skin by Jeferson Tenório, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato.

I love the darker vibes of Fresh dirt from the grave so this would be my pick for the longlist.

Honford star

The past 2 years Honford star has had 1 book on the longlist.

• Your Utopia by Bora Chung, translated from Korean by Anton Hur.
• Cannibals by Shinya Tanaka, translated from Japanese by Kalau Almony.
• Finger bone by Hiroki Takahashi, translated from Japanese by Takami Nieda.
• Launch something by Bae Myung-hoon, translated from Korean by Stella Kim.

I loved Cursed Bunny and it is a big part in how I got attached to International Booker, in fact that entire year the longlist was fantastic. So of course I want to see Bora Chung make it onto the longlist!

Lolli editions

Lolli editions missed out on last year’s longlist but had 1 book in 2022 and 2021.

• Tityrus by Duncan Wiese, translated from Danish by Max Minden Ribeiro and Sam Riviere.
• Eunuch by Kristina Carlson, translated from Finnish by Mikko Alapuro.
• My work by Olga Ravn, translated from Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell.
• Sublunar by Harald Voetmann, translated from Danish by Johanne Sorgenfri Ottosen.

I’m going with the popular pick that everyone else is making – My work by Olga Ravn!

Picador Pan Macmillan

Has the same track record as Lolli editions. Their website is an equal to Penguin’s so I can’t be bothered to dig through for potentially eligible books.

Pushkin press

Looking at the past 4 years, the average for Pushkin press is 1 book per year. They had zero books in 2022 but made up for it with 2 books in 2021.

• Harlequin Butterfly by Toh EnJoe, translated by David Boyd.
• 19 claws and black bird by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses.
• Glorious people by Sasha Salzmann, translated by Imogen Taylor.
• Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson, translated by Saskia Vogel.
• The wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli, translated by Willard Wood.

I probably will not surprise anyone by saying I want Ædnan and 19 claws and black bird to make it to the longlist. Leaving out Ædnan will be a devastating blow to my trust in International Booker. This is the one prediction I had to not think about as soon as I saw that it was eligible.

Tilted Axis press

Came out of nowhere with 3 longlisted books in 2022 and surprised many by having zero longlisters in 2023. Is it time for another appearance?

• The end of August by Yu Miri, translated from Japanese by Morgan Giles
• A book, untitled by Shushan Avagyan, translated from Armenian by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz
• DD’s umbrella by Hwang Jungeun, translated from Korean by E. Yaewon
• To hell with poets by Baqytgul Sarmekova, translated from Kazakh by Mirgul Kali

I have to go with one of the few eligible books I own – The end of August.

World editions

Increased their appearance by having 1 longlisted book in 2023 and 2021.

• Fowl eulogies by Lucie Rico, translated from French by Daria Chernysheva
• The drinker of horizons by Mia Couto, translated from Portugese by David Brookshaw
• Selamlik by Khaled Alesmael, translated from Arabic by Leri Price

I’m picking The drinker of horizons, even though it appears to be part of a series.

Disclaimer

Same as the last prediction post.

Do not trust me.

International Booker anticipation stack

A stack of mostly library books as I impatiently wait for International Booker longlist announcement on Monday.

🇧🇷 Of cattle and men by Ana Paula Maia, translated into English by Zoë Perry. Edit: this was eligible last year.

🇺🇸 Postcolonial love poem by International Booker judge Natalie Diaz

🇫🇷  🇸🇳 Vengeance is mine by Marie NDiaye, translated into English by Jordan Stump

🇸🇪 🇮🇷 The singularity by Balsam Karam in the original Swedish

🇦🇷 19 claws and a black bird Agustina Bazterrica, translated into English by Sarah Moses

🇺🇸 When my brother was an Aztec by IB judge Natalie Diaz

🇸🇪 The details by Ia Genberg in its original Swedish

🇸🇪 Hunter in Huskvarna by Sara Stridsberg in its original Swedish

🇮🇸 The mark by Frída Ísberg, translated into Swedish by Arvid Nordh

🇳🇴 The wolves of eternity by Karl Ove Knausgård, translated into Swedish by Staffan Söderblom

🇸🇪 Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson in the original Swedish

🇯🇵 The end of August by Yu Miri, translated into English by Morgan Giles

Have you read any of these? Which ones would you want to see on the longlist on Monday?

Literary Fifteen 2024

A reading challenge sampling 15 literary awards and hopefully finding some of your best reads in 2024.

The prizes will take you to several places around the world and offers translated fiction, poetry, non-fiction, short stories, fantasy, political novels, queer lit and much more. The prompts & literary prizes:

1. Aspen Words – longlist is already here!!!

2. Dublin Literary Award

3. OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

4. International Booker

5. Carol Shields Prize for Fiction

6. Jhalak Prize

7. Lambda Literary Award

8. Ignyte Awards

9. AKO Caine Prize for African Writing

10. The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction

11. Polari Book Prize

12. JCB Prize for Fiction

13. National Book Award for Translated Fiction

14. Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

15. Award of your choice

Rules:
Read (or DNF) at least one story nominated for a literary award.

If you want more, read for 2 or more prizes. Or read 1 or more for a prize.

It doesn’t matter how much you read – any level of participation counts. Read as much or little as you want to – read because you want to.
PS. This is also a reminder to myself to not try to do it all even when you shouldn’t.

Which prize are you most looking forward to in 2024? Which prize would you pick for no 15? Curious to know even if you do not join the challenge!

Cold as hell by Lilja Sigurđadóttir

Tr. by Sara Lindberg into Swedish

🇮🇸 Iceland

Áróra is forced to return to Iceland as her sister Ísafold appears to have gone missing for a couple of weeks. The sisters are no longer on speaking terms but their mother convinces Áróra to reach out once again. Áróra’s search for her sister means confronting Ísafold’s violent boyfriend Björn and raising questions to the neighbours who have their own reasons for not being forthcoming.

In my current not-much-reading state I have found a returning interest for crime fiction. A genre that has always drawn me in, is my mom’s favourite genre and therefore filled with a child’s nostalgia of closeness to a parent, but at the same time pushed me away due to its overuse of harmful stereotypes. Reading it again I’m struck by how the stereotypes are exaggerated but the same as in all types of fiction. Is the criticism towards crime fiction based in it being more dangerous? More extreme and therefore more likely to sway the public’s mind? Or is the criticism sharper because this is a genre that is more accessible to many? Aimed at a group that is not fancy pants readers? Why do we criticise the genre rather than the stereotype?

This was an interesting book that has multiple threads running alongside each other. Life is often many things at once and it left me feeling Áróra was more real than most single-minded characters on a mission. I think the pondering of relationships, to people and place, adds investment into Ísafold and Áróra.

This is an author that has sparked my interest because of the way stereotypes are used in the book. At times I was concerned for the path the book was taking. I think there are a lot of interesting discussions to be had about this book’s use of stereotypes. Was it successful? Did it still miss the mark somewhat? Is that the book or is it a much larger discussion? For me it is clear the author is very aware of various notions in people’s minds and knows how to use that to weave a story. It leaves me curious to see what else the author has written. It is definitely refreshing to identify an awareness of the genre and its most common pitfalls.

Morning reading 📚☕

Inspired by my new-found love for reading vlogs on BookTube I wanted to do a reading update on my current reads.

The way spring arrives
I’ve finished the first story called The Stars We Raised by Xiu Xinyu (tr. Judy Yi Zhou). As the title reveals, in this story stars play a significant role. Stars appear and are “raised” by kids on a yearly basis for a couple of months until the stars are sold by the parents. We follow our narrator and the outcast Jiang Yang as they grew from kids to young adults. I liked the story, I viewed it as a comment on our society and the way we use things without care or consideration.

Jawbone
I’ve finished the first chapter and Fernanda is certainly in trouble. I suspect this will be a book where we get told the current situation and what came before it until it all explodes into some final scenes. High hopes for this being amazing.

Motherland by Paula Ramón – via Netgalley
This is described as powerful memoir from a Venezuelan reporter about one woman’s complicated relationship with her family as her beloved homeland collapses into ruin. I’ve finished the introduction this morning and believe I’m in for some beautiful language and reflections on what it means to lose your home and what home even is.

I’m also finishing Victory City by Salman Rushdie. My first book by Rushdie although I remember reading The Satanic Verses on the beach as a teenager. But I don’t think I ever finished it.

Attempted beach reading

I had a perfect day at the beach yesterday. Not too warm, most of the people had gone home, the water was cool with some minor waves to play in. I brought one of my current reads, Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, and didn’t read a thing because I was in the water playing with the kid.

Oh well, I tried. And when I took the photo I really thought I would have a great time reading 😂

Women in translation TBR

Happy first day of women in translation month!

I never do TBRs really but I’m travelling around Sweden and so had to pick 9 books to bring. After changing my mind many times and even asking for help I ended up going all in for women in translation in August.

What I packed:

🇮🇷 🇫🇷 Persepolis vol I by Marjane Satrapi – a graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

🇬🇪 🇩🇪 Bristen På Ljus [Das Manglende Licht – not yet in English translation] by Nino Haratischwili – 3 women meet again in Brussels decades after their friendship was torn apart in Tbilisi in the 1980s as the Sovet Union was falling apart.

🇨🇳 The Way Spring Arrives And Other Stories by female and nonbinary creators – A collection of Chinese sci fi and fantasy.

🇦🇷 Tender is the flesh by Agustina Bazterrica – Marcos struggles to distance himself from his work at a human meat factory.

🇪🇨 Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda – Fernanda and Annelise are so close they are practically sisters. So how does Fernanda end up bound on the floor of a deserted cabin, held hostage by one of her teachers and estranged from Annelise?

And onto my International Booker inspired books – either they made the list or I found out about them when I tried to figure out predictions.

🇲🇽 Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel – a reckoning of the complex emotions around whether or not to have children.

🇪🇸 Mothers Don’t by Katixa Agirre – Motherhood comes at a price: your own freedom.

🇻🇳 Chinatown by Thuân – As a metro grinds to a halt a woman remembers her life in Hanoi, Leningrad and France, the life of a child, student, immigrant and single mother.

🇧🇫 So Distant From My Life by Monique Ilboudo – Jeanphi, a young man from the fictional West African city Ouabany, has one obsession that will determine his life – migration.

🇬🇵 🇫🇷 The Gospel According To The New World by Maryse Condé – A miracle baby is born on Easter Sunday, rumored to be the child of God.

Have you read any of these? Are you joining in women in translation month? Which books are you reading in August?

Warwick prize for WIT buzz

I’ve been browsing the 153 submitted books for this year’s Warwick Prize For Women In Translation and I think there is potential for a really good longlist.

I have read 5 of the books and I think all of them could make it to the longlist, it all depends on what the judges are after. And even if none of them make the longlist I definitely think it is books you should check out in case you are looking for translated fiction.

🇳🇴 Is mother dead by Vigdis Hjorth – A daughter obsesses over her mother as she returns home to Norway after years away.
One of my favourite’s of this year and one I would have selected for the International Booker shortlist. I would be really happy if it makes it onto another longlist because then more readers can discover Hjorth which is an author that always captivates me.

🇸🇪 A system so magnificent it is blinding by Amanda Svensson – Thriplets spread out over the world, all of them struggling in their own way and about to face a secret hidden since the day they were born.
It was an interesting read, it was not on my shortlist for International Booker, although I liked it better than some that did make it. Being a fan of new books on shortlist I do not wish for it to make it to the Warwick longlist but I also wouldn’t object.

🇪🇸 Boulder by Eva Baltasar – Boulder follows her love Samsa to Reykjavik, where Samsa decides she wants to have a child, about lust, sense of self and motherhood.
Short but has a lot to say and I can see why it made the International Booker shortlist. I found it both enchanting and distant, it stood out with its richer language.

🇯🇵 Scattered all over the earth by Yoko Tawada – In a world forever changed by climate disaster people’s language and place in the world has changed forever.
I read this one to get a feel for Ursula K. Le Guin Prize last year and it did not disappoint, but it also had some things that annoyed me and that I struggled to let go of (silly because it is after all fiction). I think there are a lot of worthwhile themes explored and would not be surprised if it is included on the longlist.

🇸🇪 Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius – A young Sámi girl happens open a man who has murdered her reindeer and is threatened to silence, as we follow Elsa the colonialism and oppression of Swedish society becomes abundantly clear.
This isn’t a literary book so I do not think it would win, but it is an important book raising indigenous rights in northern Europe while also being appreciated by international readers. I think it would be a good choice to include in a longlist such as Warwick.

Dragon Palace by Hiromi Kawakami 🇯🇵

Tr. Ted Goossen

Dragon Palace is a collection of short stories to be released in September. I read my copy through NetGalley.

A night out with a shape-shifting sea creature, the history of a goddess and great-grandmother, a relationship with an elderly man and fox-spirit, the yearning for love from an ancestor hundreds of years old, reverence for a three-faced kitchen god, an office-working mole providing an underground sanctuary to humans, a boy’s life with his extraordinary sisters taking on the many roles of women, a sea horse passed from husband to husband with a distant memory of the sea.

This is a beautifully written collection of short stories that sweep the reader along into strange realities. Introducing the reader to animals and gods I was drawn to consider humanity in all its flaws. What it means to be young, old, living, dying, longing, loving, at peace or unease. Some of the stories gets too close to awful experiences and others keep us at a distance. It is both reflective and creepy.

At least, this is what I took from the short stories. The meaning isn’t spelled out and I think depending on where you are at you might take different meaning of the various twists and turns of the stories.

Warwick prize for Women In Translation – submissions 2023

As we are about to enter July, I’m getting excited about the bookish happenings in August. We have the announcement of Booker (which I know will get me, not because of the prize, but because of people’s enthusiasm over the books – that prize has nothing to offer in comparison to its bookish fan base) and it is Women In Translation month.

The somewhat mysterious Warwick prize for Women In Translation recently released their list of submissions (the only prize that I know of that does this). As I want more bookish buzz for more literary prizes there is now a list of all submissions on Goodreads, thanks to Bookstagrammer @bitterpurl for adding books when I reached my maximum of 100 books. I hope you use it for prediction posts and finding inspiration for reading women in translation in August.

A quick glance at what the submission list has to offer:
153 books
32 languages

My personal stats on the submission list:
5 books read
6 books owned
2 books borrowed from the library

Are you excited for women in translation? Warwick? Booker? Something else entirely?