Entertainment

The 13 novels in line for the Man Booker International Prize 2017

The longlist includes works translated from 11 languages.
The longlist includes works translated from 11 languages. The longlist includes works translated from 11 languages.

A selection of 13 novels by writers from across the globe has been unveiled in the longlist for the Man Booker International Prize 2017.

Translated into English from 11 languages, the entries will be narrowed into a shortlist of six next month before a winner is announced in June.

The winning author and their translator will split a £50,000 prize, while each shortlisted runner-up and translator will receive £1,000.

This year’s line-up, which includes the prize’s first winner in 2005 Ismail Kadare was selected from 126 works by established and debut writers.

Edinburgh International Book Festival director and chair of the judging panel Nick Barley said: “It’s been an exceptionally strong year for translated fiction.

“From powerful depictions and shocking exposes of historical and contemporary horrors to intimate and compelling portraits of people going about their daily lives, our longlisted books are above all breathtakingly well-written.

“Fiction in translation is flourishing: in these times when walls are being built, this explosion of brilliant ideas from around the world arriving into the English language feels more important than ever. ”

The panel also included award-winning writer and translator Daniel Hahn, Turkish novellist Elif Shafak, On Black Sisters’ Street author Chika Unigwe, and award-winning poet Helen Mort.

The full longlist is as follows:

Compass – Mathias Enard (France) translated by Charlotte Mandell.

Swallowing Mercury – Wioletta Greg (Poland) translated by Eliza Marciniak.

A Horse Walks Into A Bar – David Grossman (Israel) translated by Jessica Cohen.

War And Turpentine – Stefan Hertmans (Belgium) translated by David McKay.

The Unseen – Roy Jacobsen (Norway) translated by Don Bartlett.

The Traitor’s Niche – Ismail Kadare (Albania) translated by John Hodgson.

Fish Have No Feet – Jon Kalman Stefansson (Iceland) translated by Phil Roughton.

The Explosion Chronicles – Yan Lianke (China) translated by Carlos Rojas.

Black Moses – Alain Mabanckou (France) translated by Helen Stevenson.

Bricks And Mortar – Clemens Meyer (Germany) translated by Katy Derbyshire.

Mirror, Shoulder, Signal – Dorthe Nors (Denmark) translated by Misha Hoekstra.

Judas – Amos Oz (Israel) translated by Nicholas de Lange.

Fever Dream – Samanta Schweblin (Argentina) translated by Megan McDowell.