The Frio Prize for Literature, established in 2014, is often likened to a competitor to the Booker Prize. The Booker Prize's emphasis on literary readability was considered by some Literary Groups in England to be at the expense of the true value of literature, and the Frio Prize was born under the influence of famous writers including Margaret Atwood. The award's co-founders, Andrew Kidd and Kate Harvey, believe the award should reward classics of truly literary value.
For the first two years, the Frio Prize was awarded to authors of various countries for books in the fiction category published in the United Kingdom. Since Rathbones became a sponsor in 2017, the awards have awarded works that are not limited to writing, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. The jury of the awards is made up of more than 200 writers and media commentators, each of whom can have three nominated books, and finally form a shortlist of long and short shortlists.
Although often discussed alongside the Booker Prize, it is interesting to note that the 2021 Booker Prize winner and South African writer Damon Gargut was also shortlisted for the 2022 Forio Prize for Literature, which was also the winner of last year's Booker Prize, "The Promise". In addition, there are also many familiar faces in this list, such as the Irish writer Colm Tóibín.
Shortlisted authors for the 2022 Frio Prize for Literature include Colm Tobin, Natasha Brown, and Damon Gargut. Image source: The Guardian.
The other works focus on a wide variety of topics, and the head of the jury, novelist Tessa Hadley, said that the quality of the works was high because they were professional writers' nominations, and "the choice was a difficult thing.". Natasha Brown's work Assembly explores the important and sensitive issues of identity and class at the moment, and the scene in which a black British woman is about to attend a lavish party at her boyfriend's house evokes her self-torture. Philip Hoare's Albert and the Whale focuses on Albrecht Dürer, a famous Nordic artist in 1520. As an outstanding painter of nature in the Renaissance, he observed whales during his voyages and painted in an imaginative way, in which every part of the world was connected. This book explores Dürer's work and inner world with a highly personal perspective, and will help us rethink our relationship to the natural world hundreds of years later.
The poet Selima Hill's collection of poems, Men Who Feed Pigeons, sets its sights on different types of relationships between men and women. Irish short story writer Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These tells the story of a kind of "heroism" about Irish Catholics. The previously released top 20 list included works such as Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You.
It is reported that the final results of this year's Frio Literary Prize will be announced on March 23.
Shortlisted books for the 2022 Forio Prize for Literature:
《Assembly》
By Natasha Brown
版本：Little，Brown and Company
September 2021
The work explores the important and sensitive issues of identity and class today. A scene in which a black British woman is about to attend a lavish party at her boyfriend's home evokes her self-torture.
《The Promise》
By Damon Galgut
Version: Europa Editions
April 2021
The work tells the story of a white South African family spanning 30 years. It is also the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize.
《Men Who Feed Pigeons》
By Selima Hill
Version: Bloodaxe Books
December 2021
The work explores different types of relationships between men and women in the form of multiple sets of poems.
《Albert and the Whale: Albrecht Dürer and How Art Imagines Our World》
By Philip Hoare
Version: Pegasus Books
February 2022
The work focuses on a famous Nordic artist from 1520: Albrecht Dürer. As an outstanding painter of nature in the Renaissance, he observed whales during his voyages and painted in an imaginative way, in which every part of the world was connected. This book explores Dürer's work and inner world with a highly personal perspective, and will help us rethink our relationship to the natural world hundreds of years later.
《Small Things Like These》
By Claire Keegan
Version: Grove Press
November 2021
The work tells of a kind of "heroism" about Irish Catholics.
《My Phantoms》
Written by Gwendoline Riley
Version: Granta
The work tells the story of a conflicting relationship between a mother and daughter.
《China Room：A Novel》
By Sunjeev Sahota
Version: Viking
July 2021
In this work, Mehar, a woman living in rural India in 1929, is married to three brothers at the same time, and she and some other women toil in a porcelain room and are ordered to be cut off from the men. The strong-willed Mehar tries to make some viable resistance in a suffocating environment. With the rise of India's independence movement, she must also make clearer decisions. The author attempts to portray in detail how systemic power oppresses the weak individual in all its aspects, and how human beings have the ability to break through limitations.
《The Magician：A Novel》
By Colm Tóibín
Version: Scribner
The work tells the coming-of-age story of writer Thomas Mann, revealing the tension between individual desires and turbulent times.
Reference Links:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/09/damon-galgut-colm-toibin-join-rathbones-folio-prize-shortlist
https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2022/02/10/209825/folio-prize-2022-shortlist-announced/
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