The Man Booker International Prize has announced its longlist for the 2016 literary prizes. Thirteen novels in translation (‘The Man Booker Dozen’) are in contention for the prize, which has now merged with the Independent‘s Foreign Fiction Prize. The winning author and his or her translator will split the £50,000 ($72,000) prize. The list includes authors from twelve countries, including Japan, China, Turkey, France, and Angola.
Among the nominees are Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk for A Strangeness in My Mind, Yan Lianke for The Four Books, and Elena Ferrante for The Story of the Lost Child. Ferrante is notoriously reclusive (nobody knows her real identity), and she has stated that “books, once they are written, have no need of their authors.” Which of course begs the question: if she wins the Prize, will she show up? The shortlist will be announced on April 14 and the winner will be chosen on May 16.
