2023 International Booker Prize Shortlist Announced

Honoring the finest works of translated fiction from around the world, the International Booker Prize has announced its 2023 shortlist. The prize is awarded every year to a single book translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of international fiction from all over the world and to promote and recognize the vital work of translators. The £50,000 prize is split between the winning author and translator. The winning title will be announced at a ceremony at Sky Garden in London on May 23rd.

This year’s thrilling shortlist — that the judges called bold, subversive, and sexy —features books originating from six countries across four continents and thoughtfully blends the work of more established authors with books by writers new to English-language readers, including two debut novels, one from Ivorian author and journalist GauZ’ and one from South Korean novelist, screenwriter, and director Cheon Myeong-kwan. These debut novels share the list with writers like acclaimed Guadeloupean writer Maryse Condé, widely considered the “Grande Dame of Caribbean literature.” Condé is the oldest writer ever to be longlisted for the prize at 86. She is longlisted with her translator and husband Richard Philcox. A wife and husband author-translator team is another first in the prize’s history. And independent presses continue to dominate the shortlist as they did the longlist.