The shortlist for the International Booker Prize 2023 was announced today, April 18, by the Chair of judges, Leïla Slimani, at an event held at the London Book Fair.
According to a statement by the organisers, the shortlisted titles are:
Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim
The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox
Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated by Frank Wynne
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey
The six books, the state explains, originating in six countries across four continents, explore the challenges of motherhood, the struggles of undocumented workers and the dangers of nostalgia, while the authors include ‘the grande dame of Caribbean literature’, ‘a Proust from the East’, a ‘pre-eminent chronicler of queer voices’ and a former security guard.
“There are two debut novels and one final novel on the list. To find out more about the shortlist, click the link below”.
Leïla Slimani, International Booker Prize 2023 Chair of judges, said: “I think it’s a very cool, very sexy list. We wanted each book to feel like an astonishment and to stand on its own. These books are all bold, subversive, nicely perverse. There is something sneaky about a lot of them. I also feel that these are sensual books, where the question of the body is important. What is it like to have a body? How do you write about the experience of the body? These are not abstract or theoretical books but, on the contrary, very grounded books, about people, places, moments.
“What is extraordinary about literature is that when a novel is successful, it works with anyone, anywhere. There’s something really magical about storytelling. And we have had the joy of experiencing this by reading the books on this list. We have been caught up in these stories, dazzled, fascinated and it is these emotions that we want to share. I’m very happy to offer this list to readers – a list of remarkable variety, where they will find poetry, fantasy, eroticism and metaphysics.”
The winner of the International Booker Prize 2023 will be announced at a ceremony at Sky Garden in London on Tuesday, May 23. The authors and translators of each of the six shortlisted books will receive a prize of £5,000 at the ceremony: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator.
