Reader’s Guide
Man Booker International Prize 2016
Korean JoongAng Daily
Korean writer Han Kang in line for prestigious award
The Man Booker Prize recently announced the final list of nominees for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize.
One of the six shortlisted authors announced last week is Han Kang, who has lately been garnering an amount of attention rare for a Korean writer from the foreign press for her novel “The Vegetarian,” which was published in English last year.
The Man Booker Prize, which began in 1969 in the United Kingdom with the aim of promoting the finest fiction, is one of the top honors for novelists. The prize is granted annually to an original novel, written in English and published in the United Kingdom.
Along with the original prize, the Man Booker International Prize was established in 2005 for translated works. The winning work is awarded 50,000 pounds ($70,900), which is equally divided between the author and the translator.
Newsday
Elena Ferrante, Orhan Pamuk up for Man Booker International Prize
LONDON – Elusive Italian author Elena Ferrante and Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk are among six finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
Ferrante’s Neapolitan tale “The Story of the Lost Child” and Pamuk’s Istanbul-set “A Strangeness in My Mind” are on a shortlist, announced Thursday, that includes books from Asia, Africa and Europe.
Evening Standard
Londoner’s Diary: Sex, drugs and a locked library at the Savile
Prize could unmask Elena Ferrante
To the Kensington Orangery last night, where the champagne flowed for the Man Booker International Prize. As there wasn’t a name tag ready and waiting, The Londoner was tempted to claim to be nominee Elena Ferrante, author of the quartet of books known at the Neapolitan novels, the last of which, The Story of the Lost Child, is shortlisted for the prize.
Ferrante’s identity is a closely guarded secret and was a much discussed topic of the evening. For The Economist’s books and arts editor, Fiammetta Rocco, the prize has diplomatic possibilities. “If you believe what unites us is stronger than what divides us,” she said, “this is the prize for you.”
The big question now is: if Ferrante wins, will she be appear incognito at the prizegiving?
The Times of India
Elena Ferrante could be the first-ever anonymous Booker winner
For the first time, the Man Booker International prize could go to an anonymous writer this year, if a story of lifelong friendship in southern Italy beats the other five contestants in a short list announced this week.
“The Story of the Lost Child”, the fourth and final instalment in a tale of friendship, family and power centred on noisy Naples, is up against rivals that include Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk.
The true identity of its writer, who has published this series and three other books under the pen name Elena Ferrante, is one of the best-kept artistic secrets in modern Italy.
“Elena Ferrante was born in Naples. This is all we know about her,” the Booker Prize Foundation said on its website. A spokeswoman for the prize said no anonymous writer had ever won the Man Booker Prize or the Man Booker International Prize.
Before publishing her first novel, Ferrante is widely quoted as having said in a letter to her publishers, “Books, once they are written, have no need of their authors.”Even as the “Neapolitan Novels”, the first of which came out in Italy in 2011, drew worldwide acclaim and sales reportedly exceeded 1 million copies, she did not identify herself.
The Wire
Culture Review: Banned Film, Lost Dutch Masterpiece, Books for Mental Health and More
2016 International Man Booker prize announced
The 2016 International Man Booker prize shortlist consists of six novels from Turkey, China, Italy, South Korea, Austria and Angola, narrowed down from an original 155 contenders. The winner will be announced in June.
Judges called Elena Ferrante’s The Story of a Lost Child “a veritable feast.” Despite her international fame, Ferrante has never been publicly identified. She interacts with her translator only through her publisher.
Yan Lianke’s The Four Books is set in a labour camp before and during the 1950s famine in China. The novel, which took Lianke 20 years to plan, was banned in China at the time of its publication.
Here’s the full shortlist:
A General Theory of Oblivion, Jose Eduardo Agualusa (Angola)
The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein (Italy)
The Vegetarian, Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith (South Korea)
The Four Books, Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas (China)
A Strangeness in My Mind, Orhan Pamuk, translated by Ekin Oklap (Turkey)
A Whole Life, Robert Seethaler, translated by Charlotte Collins (Austria)
Frontpage
Elusive Italian author Elena Ferrante and Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk are among six finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction
LONDON (AP) — Elusive Italian author Elena Ferrante and Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk are among six finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
Ferrante’s Neapolitan tale “The Story of the Lost Child” and Pamuk’s Istanbul-set “A Strangeness in My Mind” are on a shortlist, announced Thursday, that includes books from Asia, Africa and Europe.
Pamuk is one of Turkey’s best-known authors and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2006. Ferrante has topped best-seller lists around the world with her four novels of friendship and life in Naples, but her identity remains a mystery. She writes under a pseudonym and rarely gives interviews.
Also among the finalists is Yan Lianke’s “The Four Books,” one of the few Chinese novels to tackle the Great Famine of the 1950s and ’60s, in which millions died. The author’s satirical novels have frequently been banned in China.
The other nominees are Angolan revolution saga “A General Theory of Oblivion” by Jose Eduardo Agualusa; food-themed novel “The Vegetarian” by South Korea’s Han Kang; and Alpine tale “A Whole Life” by Austria’s Robert Seethaler.
Literary critic Boyd Tonkin, who chairs the judging panel, said the six finalists “will take readers both around the globe and to every frontier of fiction.”
The award is the international counterpart to Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize and is open to books published in any language that have been translated into English. The prize was previously a career honor, but changed this year to recognize a single work of fiction.
The 50,000-pound ($71,000) prize is divided evenly between the author and the book’s translator. The winner will be announced in London on May 16.
National Post
Pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante makes Man Booker International Prize shortlist, win could spell reveal
A week of copious award announcements continued as the Man Booker International Prize shortlist was announced April 14.
The finalists are:
- A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn (Harvill Secker)
- The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions)
- The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith (Portobello Books)
- The Four Books by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas (Grove Press)
- A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Ekin Oklap (Knopf Canada)
- A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler, translated by Charlotte Collins (Anansi International)
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced May 16, with each author and translator on the shortlist receiving £1,000.
The Sidney Morning Herald
Elena Ferrante lines up for the Man Booker International Prize
The underlying question about this year’s shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize is whether the real Elena Ferrante will stand up to receive the prize if The Story of the Lost Child, the final novel in her Neapolitan quartet, is named the winner of the £50,000 ($92,000) prize. Will she even attend the presentation?
Because Elena Ferrante, of course, is a pseudonym for the writer who has entranced millions of readers in her native Italy and around the world with her quartet about two female friends in Naples. And it is a pseudonym that has been protected rigorously by her Italian publishers, Edizioni E/O. In Australia her books are published by Text.
Whoever she is, Ferrante is on the shortlist along with Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, who is listed for A Strangeness in My Mind. The other four novelists up for the prize, which will be announced in London on May 16, are: Jose Eduardo Agualusa (A General Theory of Oblivion); Han Kang (The Vegetarian); Robert Seethaler (A Whole Life); and Yan Lianke (The Four Books). The latter is also published in Australia by Text.
Elena Ferrante’s novel, The Story of the Lost Child.Photo: Supplied
The author must share the prize with the translator of the winning novel. Interestingly, 28-year-old Deborah Smith, the translator of South Korean Han Kang’s novel, only started learning Korean when she was 21.
Boyd Tonkin, chair of the judges, said: “Our selection shows that the finest books in translation extend the boundaries not just of our world – but of the art of fiction itself.” More than 150 books were entered for the prize.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/elena-ferrante-lines-up-for-the-man-booker-international-prize-20160414-go6oij.html#ixzz46GNnOTBI
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Bookslive
Shortlist announced for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, including Angolan author Jose Eduardo Agualusa
Alert! The shortlist for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize has been revealed.
Six books are in contention for the prize, including Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa.
The shortlist was whittled down from a longlist of 13. Six languages are represented, with four countries – Angola, Austria, South Korea and Turkey – appearing for the first time.
Following the 2015 Man Booker International Prize, where eight out of 10 finalists had been originally published in a language other than English, the Booker Prize Foundation announced last year that the Man Booker International would in future be awarded to fiction in translation.
Each shortlisted author and translator will receive £1,000 (about R20,000) while the £50,000 (about R1-million) prize will be divided equally between the author and the translator of the winning entry.
The winner will be announced on 16 May.
The Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker International Prize 2016 Shortlist Announced
13 April 2016
The Man Booker International Prize has revealed the shortlist of six books in contention for the 2016 Prize, celebrating the finest in global fiction. Each shortlisted author and translator will receive £1,000, while the £50,000 prize will be divided equally between the author and the translator of the winning entry.
The 2016 Man Booker International Shortlist
Title (imprint) Author (nationality) Translator (nationality)
A General Theory of Oblivion (Harvill Secker), José Eduardo Agualusa (Angola), Daniel Hahn (UK)
The Story of the Lost Child (Europa Editions), Elena Ferrante (Italy), Ann Goldstein (USA)
The Vegetarian (Portobello Books), Han Kang (South Korea), Deborah Smith (UK)
A Strangeness in My Mind (Faber & Faber), Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), Ekin Oklap (Turkey)
A Whole Life (Picador), Robert Seethaler (Austria), Charlotte Collins (UK)
The Four Books (Chatto & Windus), Yan Lianke (China), Carlos Rojas (USA)
The Bookseller
Ferrante, Pamuk shortlisted for Man Booker International Prize
Reclusive Italian writer Elena Ferrante and Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk have been named on the six-strong Man Booker International Prize shortlist.
Three titles from independent publishers feature on the list: Ferrante’s The Story of The Lost Child, the final novel in her Neapolitan quartet, translated by Ann Goldstein (Europa); Pamuk’s A Stranger in My Mind, translated from Turkish by Ekin Oklap (Faber); and Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith (Portobello).
Two books come from Penguin Random House: the Angolan writer Jose Eduardo Agualusa’s A General Theory of Oblivion, translated by Daniel Hahn (Harvill Secker); and Chinese writer Yan Lianke’s The Four Books, translated by Carlos Rojas (Chatto). Picador has the final title, Austrian writer Robert Seethaler’s A Whole Life, translated by Charlotte Collins.
The Man Booker International Prize combined with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize last year, and as of this year, rewards a single book rather than the author’s oeuvre. The winning author and translator will split the £50,000 prize, which will be awarded on 16th May.
Boyd Tonkin, chair of the judging panel, commented: “This exhilarating shortlist will take readers both around the globe and to every frontier of fiction. In first-class translations that showcase that unique and precious art, these six books tell unforgettable stories from China and Angola, Austria and Turkey, Italy and South Korea. In setting, they range from a Mao-era re-education camp and a remote Alpine valley to the modern tumult and transformation of cities such as Naples and Istanbul. In form, the titles stretch from a delicate mosaic of linked lives in post-colonial Africa to a mesmerising fable of domestic abuse and revolt in booming east Asia. Our selection shows that the finest books in translation extend the boundaries not just of our world – but of the art of fiction itself. We hope that readers everywhere will share our pleasure and excitement in this shortlist.”
The Telegraph
Elena Ferrante makes Man Booker International shortlist
The pseudonymous Italian author of the bestselling Neapolitan Novels has reached the shortlist of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, which celebrates global fiction in English translation.
Elena Ferrante, whose statement that “books, once they are written, have no need of their authors” has not prevented endless speculation as to her identity, is shortlisted for The Story of the Lost Child, the final instalment of her compelling tetralogy which follows Elena and Lila, two girls from a poor neighbourhood of Naples, across six decades. The series has recently begun development for a TV series; although she was nominated for Italy’s prestigious Strega prize, this would be the first major international prize that Ferrante, the author of seven novels, has won.
The Guardian
‘Exhilarating’ Man Booker International shortlist spans the world
Six books, set in locations including Istanbul and the Austrian Alps, during periods as mixed as the great famine in China and the Angolan civil war, telling stories of a female friendship in Camorra-controlled Naples and of a Korean wife’s transformative rebellion, have been announced as the finalists for the 2016 Man Booker International prize.
The Nobel prize-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante, Chinese dissident Yan Lianke, Angolan writer José Eduardo Agualusa, Austrian Robert Seethaler and South Korean Han Kang have all been shortlisted for the award, which celebrates the finest global fiction translated into English. The winner will receive £50,000, to be split evenly between author and translator.