According to the Guardian, on April 7, local time, the short list of the 2022 International Booker Prize was announced. From the Polish Jewish epics of former Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk to the Indian writer Geetanjali Shree's story about how an old woman was reborn after the death of her husband, works by women make up the majority of this year's shortlist. 2017 winner David Grossman regrettably withdrew early from the final competition.
"These six works, translated into six languages, explore the boundaries and limits of the human experience—whether lingering or bizarre, poignant or tender, full of vitality or repetition leading to impermanence." Frank Wynne, president of this year's jury at the International Booker Prize, said that after reading 135 works, he and four other judges selected the six books.
The Book of Jacob, by Olga Tokarczuk and translated by Jennifer Croft.
It is worth mentioning that Tokarchuk and the translator of his work, Jennifer Croft, won the 2018 International Booker Prize for flights. Four years later, it has been widely concerned whether the two will be able to win again with "The Books of Jacob." It allegedly took Croft seven years to translate the more than 900-page "tome." Jury President Wayne likened it to a "Bayeux Tapestry" — the original is 70 meters long and 62 meters extant, probably the longest comic strip in the world — to describe the magnificence of the Book of James, "but it's probably 1.5 miles longer than the Bayeux Tapestry."
Sand Tomb, by Gidanjaly Seri, translated by Daisy Rockwell in English.
Sri and her translator Daisy Rockwell's Tomb of Sand also attracted attention, the first Hindi translation to be nominated for the award's 17 years of existence. The book revolves around an 80-year-old Indian woman's journey to Pakistan after her husband's death, and although the setting of the novel is frustrating, the jury says "absolutely not" and praises the book as "loud and irresistible."
Also shortlisted was South Korean writer Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny, a collection of short stories that blend elements of horror, fantasy and surreality, each of which is deeply rooted in the real stresses of everyday life. Written by Mieko Kawakami, Heaven, which interprets Nietzsche's critique of morality through the story of school bullying, was called "an intense claustrophobic novel" by the judges.
Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse's work A New Name: Septology VI-VII tells the unforgettable moments of a highly devout artist's experience before his death, and the judges said the final section "combines art, death, and the idea of God in a broad and gentle gesture of grace." The novel Elena Knows by Argentine writer Claudia Pi eiro tells the story of a grieving mother who decides to become a detective to investigate the truth of the incident after learning of her daughter's suicide. The New York Times reviewed the novel, which at first glance appears to be "a compact and concise puzzle," but is not, "a work that cares about the mother-daughter relationship, explores the burden of care, and directs the multiple constraints that bureaucratic power and religious doctrine impose on women."
The International Booker Prize, also known as the Booker Prize for International Literature, was established in 2005 as a complement to the most prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction in the United Kingdom, and all works, regardless of country, are eligible for selection as long as the work is in English or translated into English. The award is set at £50,000 and is divided equally between the author and the translator of the winning work. It is reported that this year's final winners will be announced at the award ceremony in London on May 26.
Attached: Short list of the 2022 International Booker Prize for Literature:
[1] Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur (Honford Star)
[2] A New Name: Septology VI-VII by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls(Fitzcarraldo)
[3] Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd(Picador)
[4] Elena Knows by Claudia Pi eiro, translated by Frances Riddle (Charco)
[5] Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell (TiltedAxis)
[6] The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft(Fitzcarraldo)
Resources:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/apr/07/international-booker-prize-shortlist
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/books/international-booker-prize-shortlist-tokarczuk.html
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/international-booker-prize-former-winners-and-first-timers-on-shortlist-1.4846337
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