The International Booker Prize 2024 longlist is announced ‘signalling a second “boom” in Latin American fiction’

Each year the International Booker Prize introduces readers to the best novels and short story collections from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland. 

The prize recognises the vital work of translators with the £50,000 prize money divided equally: £25,000 for the author and £25,000 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). In addition, there is a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). 

The 13 books on the longlist have been chosen by the 2024 judging panel: broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Wachtel as chair; award-winning poet Natalie Diaz; internationally acclaimed novelist Romesh Gunesekera;  groundbreaking visual artist William Kentridge; and writer, editor and translator Aaron Robertson. 

Their selection was made from 149 books published between 1 May 2023 and 30 April 2024 and submitted by publishers – the highest number since the prize was relaunched in its current format in 2016. This year’s submissions were made up of books originally written in 32 languages, up from 27 in 2023. The original languages with the most books submitted were French (26 books), Spanish (21), Japanese (15), German (12), Italian (8) and Arabic (8). Since 2016, books representing 63 languages have been submitted for the prize, ranging from Farsi and Vietnamese to Kikuyu and Welsh. A book translated from Armenian was submitted for the first time this year. 

A variety of fictional forms are represented on this year’s longlist: from magical realism to autofiction, from allegory to short stories, from books that span multiple generations to one constructed around a three-minute conversation. Several titles are rooted in family life, from the relationship between fathers and sons to daughters and mothers, from separated twins to orphanhood. 

Independent publishers dominate the list: nine independents have been longlisted, including two, Seven Stories Press UK and MTO Press, for the first time. 

‘From a protest on the top of a factory chimney in South Korea to a transformative fishing trip in remote Argentina, from the violent streets of Kyiv in 1919 to a devastating sexual relationship in 1980s East Berlin, our longlisted books offer stunning evocations of place and time. Here are voices that reflect original angles of observation. In compelling, at times lyrical modes of expression, they tell stories that give us insight into – among other things – the ways political power drives our lives. 

‘I’ve always looked to fiction as a way to inhabit other places, other sensibilities. And through my experience of interviewing international authors I have come to marvel at the ability of translators to expand those worlds, to deepen our understanding of different cultures, and to build a global community of readers not constricted by borders. That same excitement informed the discussions with my fellow panellists since last summer.  It’s stimulating to hear about a book that’s been read from a different perspective and presented in a most articulate way. As William Kentridge put it, we are looking to be “complicit in the making of the meaning of a book”.  

‘What my fellow jurors and I hoped to find are books that, together, we could recommend to English-speaking readers. After narrowing down 149 submitted titles to these 13, we are delighted to say, “Here, we’ve scoured the world and brought back these gifts.”’ 

Not a River  by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott  

‘A throbbing, feverish novel that moves like water, in currents of dreams and overlaps of time’  

Simpatía by Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, translated by Noel Hernández González and Daniel Hahn 

‘An allegory set in Caracas during Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship about a former orphan desperate for a sense of purpose and belonging’  

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann  

‘An expertly braided novel about personal and national transformations, set amid the tumult of 1980s Berlin’    

The Details by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson  

‘Genberg writes with a remarkably sharp eye about a series of messy relationships between friends, family and lovers’  

White Nights by Urszula Honek, translated by Kate Webster  

‘A haunting series of interconnected stories set in a small Polish town in which people seek meaning and belonging in a transient world’  

Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae  

‘Blending the sweeping historical narrative of a nation with an individual’s search for justice, this is a book about a Korea rarely seen in the West’   

The four South American longlisted authors are: 

• Argentinian poet Selva Almada, whose book Not a River was the winner of the IILA Prize in Italy and is her fourth title published in English 
• Venezuelan writer Rodrigo Blanco Calderón who, in 2007, was included in the Bogotá39 group, which brought together the best Latin American writers under 39 years old. In 2013 he was a guest writer on the International Writing Programme at the University of Iowa 
• Brazilian short story writer and novelist Itamar Vieira Junior, whose book Crooked Plow won the prestigious 2018 LeYa Award in Portugal 
• Peruvian journalist Gabriela Wiener, who was the former editor-in-chief of Marie Claire in Spain. She won a Peruvian National Journalism Award for an investigative report on a case of gender-based violence in which the aggressor was a National Literary Award laureate. 

Many other of the longlisted books and authors are bestsellers or prize winners in their home countries and around the world, including: 

• Veronica Raimo’s Lost on Me, which has sold 100,000 copies in Italy, won the Strega Giovani Prize and the Viareggio Rèpaci Prize, and has a film adaptation underway 
• The Details by Ia Genberg, which was an instant Swedish bestseller with rights sold in 30 territories around the world, and won both The August Prize for Best Fiction and The Aftonbladet Literary Prize in 2022 
• Andrey Kurkov, whose 1996 novel Death and the Penguin has been translated into 30 languages. He was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2023 for Jimi Hendrix Live in Kiev. 
• Hwang Sok-yong, who is the recipient of Korea’s highest literary prizes, including the Manhae Literary Prize, and France’s Emile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature. He was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2019 for At Dusk, which was also translated by Sora Kim-Russell. 
• Domenico Starnone’s The House on Via Gemito, which won Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, the Strega, in 2001. It is the oldest book on the list. Starnone has published 12 books since Via Gemito was first released. It has been rumoured that Starnone may be the co-author of the Elena Ferrante books, which have sold millions of copies around the world 
• Jenny Erpenbeck, whose work has been translated into 30 languages and was the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2015, which merged with the International Booker Prize in 2016. She has since been longlisted for the International Booker Prize for Go, Went, Gone in 2018.  
• Urszula Honek won the Kościelski Award, which is given to the most promising Polish writer under the age of 40, along with the Kraków UNESCO City of Literature Award, and White Nights was nominated for the International Grand Continent 2022 Award. 

Should he win, Ismail Kadare would become the first author to claim the International Booker Prize twice. He was the winner of the inaugural award in 2005 for his body of work, and was longlisted in 2017 for The Traitor’s Niche, which was also translated by John Hodgson. In a speech at the Booker Prize 2022 ceremony, singer Dua Lipa credited reading books by Kadare with improving her language skills, ‘while also helping me connect with my family’s heritage and identity as Kosovan Albanians’. She added: ‘I often wonder if authors realise just how many gifts they give us.’  

Jente Posthuma has published three critically acclaimed novels in Dutch, but What I’d Rather Not Think About, which was shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature, is her first novel translated into English.  

Alongside Kim-Russell and Hodgson, two other longlisted translators have been recognised by the International Booker Prize before: Julia Sanches was shortlisted for Boulder in 2023; and Daniel Hahn was shortlisted for A General Theory of Oblivion in 2016 and judged the prize in 2017. Michael Hofmann also judged in 2018. 

Almada, Kadare and Honek are poets, as are translators Hofmann and Johnny Lorenz. Leah Janeczko, translator of Lost on Me, writes English song lyrics for Italian bands. 

The winner of the International Booker Prize can expect international recognition and a significant uplift in global sales. In the week after Time Shelter, written by Georgi Gospodinov and translated by Angela Rodel, won the International Booker Prize 2023, its publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson saw a 435% increase in sales compared to the previous week. It has now sold over 92,000 copies of the book across all its editions. 

Time Shelter was selected as a Waterstones Paperback of the Year, and the publisher has overseen a new unabridged audio production narrated by award-winning film, television and theatre star Toby Stephens. Stephens previously performed an extract of Time Shelter in the International Booker Prize’s shortlist film series, which can be watched here. An interview with Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel can be heard on the Booker Prize Podcast here. 

Translated fiction’s popularity 

In 2023, according to Nielsen BookData sales of translated fiction grew by +11% in value to £25m in the UK (fiction overall grew +4%) and 3% in volume (fiction overall -5%). Translated fiction is also beloved by younger readers: in 2022, according to research by Nielsen commissioned by the Booker Prize Foundation, 48% of all translated fiction was purchased by under 35s (vs 32% for Overall Fiction). Within TikTok’s top BookTok hashtags, the #translatedfiction hashtag now appears in its top hashtag ratings and its usage has doubled since 2023. 

On the opening day of the London Book Fair tomorrow, a panel will unpack this data on translated literature and its readers at 12.10pm in the Literary Translation Centre. Meanwhile, the 2023 winners Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel will be interviewed by journalist Rosie Goldsmith at the Bulgarian stand at 2.30pm. 

The shortlist and winner announcements 

The six books shortlisted for this year’s prize will be announced on Tuesday, 9 April, 2024. The announcement of the winning book for 2024 will take place at a ceremony in London on Tuesday, 21 May, 2024, which will also be livestreamed.

Forthcoming events 

• Shortlist readings, Southbank Centre

An evening of shortlist readings will be chaired by author and critic Chris Power on Friday, 17 May, 2024, at 7.45pm in the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London.

• Winner event at Foyles Charing Cross Road

An event with the winning author and translator at Foyles Charing Cross Road, London, on Thursday, 23 May at 7pm. 

• The 2024 winner at the Hay Festival 

The prize’s annual visit to the festival occurs on Saturday, 25 May at 5.30pm, when International Booker Prize judge and novelist Romesh Gunesekera and Booker Prize Foundation Chief Executive Gaby Wood will be in conversation with the winning author and translator of the International Booker Prize 2024.