French-Moroccan novelist Leila Slimani to chair International Booker Prize

The jury of the upcoming International Booker Prize has been announced with Moroccan-French novelist and journalist Leila Slimani as chair.

According to a report by Morocco World News the Booker Prizes also announced Uilleam Blacker, whom the prizes’ website describes as “one of Britain’s leading literary translators from Ukranian,” as well Tan Twan Eng, the Booker-shortlisted Malaysian novelist, Parul Sehgal, critic at the New Yorker, and Frederick Studemann, literary editor of the Financial Times.  

Passionate about writing and the literary world, the outlet adds that Slimani welcomed her nomination, describing it as a “great honor.” She added that it is a “responsibility to present this prestigious award to a novelist and to his or her translator whose talents have enabled them to be read by English-speaking readers.” 

The acclaimed writer explained, “As a child, I lived in books. Fiction is my home and I am more than happy to be able to live there for several months, surrounded by friends and colleagues, to celebrate our passion for words and stories.”

The jury will select from submitted entries of translated fiction published in the UK and Ireland between May 1, 2022, and April 30th, 2023. A long list of 12 or 13 books will be unveiled in March, and the shortlist of six books will be announced in the following month with each one of the titles winning a £5,000 prize. The award ceremony will then take place in May 2023.

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