The International Booker Prize has revealed its judging panel for next year’s award, to be chaired by Frank Wynne—the first time a translator has chaired the panel.
Actor and TV presenter Mel Giedroyc, academic Merve Emre, lawyer Petina Gappah and translator and author Jeremy Tiang will make up the panel of judges.
The International Booker Prize, which splits the £50,000 prize equally between author and translator, made the announcement via a statement.
This year, the shortlisted authors and translators will each receive £2,500, increased from £1,000 in previous years. The 2022 judging panel will be looking for the best work of translated fiction, selected from entries published in the UK or Ireland between 1 May 2021 and 30 April 2022.
Frank Wynne, Chair of the 2021 International Booker Prize judges, commented:
‘There is no art more intimate than fiction, no connection more electrifying than that between writer and reader. Among an author’s most privileged, most attentive readers are the translators tasked with bringing a work from one language to another. To this day, I am in awe of the strange magic performed by people I now consider colleagues, and friends. I feel excited and daunted to set out on this global journey with such a distinguished group of judges, eager to discover what countries we will visit, what voices we will hear, what stories we will be told. I can imagine no better way to spend a year than in the company of some of the finest writers and their translators from around the globe.’
Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the International Booker Prize, adds:
‘The five judges, led by Frank Wynne, bring together a wealth of experience as world-class readers, writers, critics and translators. The discussions they will have about the books in contention for the 2022 International Booker Prize will be a masterclass of modern literary appreciation.’
The ‘Booker Dozen’ of 12 or 13 books on the 2022 International Prize longlist will be announced in March 2022 and the shortlist of six books in April. The winners will be announced in May.
Submissions for the 2022 International Booker Prize are now open.
The International Booker Prize for fiction translated into English is awarded annually to the author and translator of the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible novel or collection of short stories.
The work must be published in the UK or Ireland between 1 May of the year prior and 30 April of the year of that award.
Submissions must be made between July and early October. Please check the rules and entry form for dates. Visit www.thebookerprizes.com/submissions
