The Man Booker International Prize has today, Wednesday 13 March, revealed the ‘Man Booker Dozen’ of 13 novels in contention for the 2019 prize, which celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world.
The prize is awarded every year for a single book, which is translated into English and published in the UK. Both novels and short-story collections are eligible. The work of translators is equally rewarded, with the £50,000 prize divided between the author and the translator of the winning entry.
Man Booker Dozen
- Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (Oman), translated by Marilyn Booth (Sandstone Press Ltd)
- Love in the New Millennium by Can Xue (China), translated by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen (Yale University Press)
- The Years by Annie Ernaux (France), translated by Alison L. Strayer (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong (South Korea), translated by Sora Kim-Russell (Scribe, UK)
- Jokes for the Gunmen by Mazen Maarouf (Iceland and Palestine), translated by Jonathan Wright (Granta, Portobello Books)
- Four Soldiers by Hubert Mingarelli (France), translated by Sam Taylor (Granta, Portobello Books)
- The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann (Germany), translated by Jen Calleja (Profile Books, Serpents Tail)
- Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin (Argentina and Italy), translated by Megan McDowell (Oneworld)
- The Faculty of Dreams by Sara Stridsberg (Sweden), translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (Quercus, MacLehose Press)
- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombia), translated by Anne McLean (Quercus, MacLehose Press)
- The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa (The Netherlands), translated by Sam Garrett (Scribe, UK)
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán (Chile and Italy), translated by Sophie Hughes (And Other Stories)
The longlist was selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by Bettany Hughes, award-winning historian, author and broadcaster, and is made up of writer, translator and chair of English PEN Maureen Freely; philosopher Professor Angie Hobbs; novelist and satirist Elnathan John and essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra.
Bettany Hughes, chair of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize judging panel, says:
“This was a year when writers plundered the archive, personal and political. That drive is represented in our longlist, but so too are surreal Chinese train journeys, absurdist approaches to war and suicide, and the traumas of spirit and flesh. We’re thrilled to share 13 books which enrich our idea of what fiction can do.”
The shortlist of six books will be announced on Tuesday 9 April and the winner of the 2019 prize will be announced on Tuesday 21 May at a formal dinner in London.
Join in with your reading group
Are you intrigued by the books on the list? Find out how your reading group can join in and receive copies of one of the books. Six lucky groups will be chosen to read and review one of the titles, and take part in the #MBI2019 conversations across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the groups who took part last year, including The Society of Young Publishers.
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Get involved
What do you think of the 2019 longlisted titles? Which have you read and what will be added to your TBR pile? Add your comments below, or click any title above to leave a review.
Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #MBI2019. Keep up with all the latest news on the Man Booker Prize website.
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