Dream of Ding Village,
a novel banned by the Chinese Government has made the longlist for
the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012. Yan Lianke’s novel, which tells
the story of a blood-selling scandal in contemporary China, was given a "three
nos" order – no distribution, no sales and no promotion – in 2005. The translation into English by Cindy Carter is joined
on the 15 strong longlist by The Prague
Cemetery, Umberto Eco’s sixth novel, as well as the million-selling Please Look After Mother by Korean
author Kyung-sook Shin, and the first volume of Murakami’s 1Q84.
The longlist features Dag Solstad, one of Norway’s leading
contemporary authors, who has previously been shortlisted for this Prize for Shyness and Dignity (in 2007) and Novel 11, Book 18 (in 2009). Independent
publishers make a strong showing this year with seven different houses
represented on the list. Random House imprints take six of the 15 slots on the
longlist for the Prize, which features books translated from 12 different
languages including Japanese, Hebrew and Icelandic.
The
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is awarded annually to the best work of
contemporary fiction in translation. The Prize celebrates an exceptional work
of fiction by a living author which has been translated into English from any
other language and published in the United Kingdom in 2011. Uniquely, the
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize acknowledges both the writer and the
translator equally, recognising the importance of the translator in their
ability to bridge the gap between languages and cultures.
A total of 15
contenders have been longlisted for the 2012 Prize, worth £10,000. They are:
·
1Q84: Books 1 and 2 by Haruki Murakami, translated from the
Japanese by Jay Rubin (Harvill Secker)
·
Alice by Judith Hermann, translated from the
German by Margot Bettauer Dembo (The Clerkenwell Press)
·
Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld, translated from the
Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green (Alma Books)
·
Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke, translated from the Chinese
by Cindy Carter (Corsair)
·
The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg, translated from the
Swedish by Sarah Death (Faber & Faber)
·
From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by
Victoria Cribb (Telegram Books)
·
Hate: A Romance by Tristan Garcia, translated from the French by Marion Duvert
and Lorin Stein (Faber & Faber)
·
New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani, translated from the
Italian by Judith Landry (Dedalus)
·
Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki, translated from the
German by Anthea Bell (Peirene Press)
·
Parrallel Stories by Peter Nadas, translated from the
Hungarian by Imre Goldstein (Jonathan Cape)
·
Please Look After Mother by Kyung-sook Shin, translated from the
Korean by Shin Chi-Young Kim (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
·
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, translated from the
Italian by Richard Dixon (Harvill Secker)
·
Professor Andersen's Night by Dag Solstad, translated from the
Norwegian by Agnes Scott Langeland (Harvill Secker)
·
Scenes From Village Life by Amos Oz, translated from the Hebrew by
Nicholas De Lange (Chatto & Windus)
·
Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga, translated from the
Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Harvill Secker)
Nick
Barley, judge of the 2012 Prize and Director of the Edinburgh International
Book Festival commented:
‘From
98 entries we have selected a longlist of 15 novels that reflect the
fast-growing appetite for high quality fiction from around the world. From
Judith Hermann’s succinct book of linked stories to the 1100-page tome by Peter
Nadas, this year’s list couldn’t be more diverse – both in sheer scale and in
subject matter. And while it has been a strong year for the established
literary imprints, I was delighted that several titles from smaller independent
publishers also shone out. Among these 15 titles there’s a treasure trove of
unforgettable treats for readers.’
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