Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Shortlist

The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist was announced yesterday as follows:

• 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)
• From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (Telegram Books)
• New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani, translated from the Italian by Judith Landry (Dedalus)
• The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon (Harvill Secker)

As usual, my random reading of the long list has left me with half the shortlist still to read. New Finnish Grammar must remain something of a favourite having been chosen as a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award as well. Eco would seem an unlikely winner as the Prize has tended to go to less well known authors. Similarly, Dream of Ding Village has perhaps had too much publicity. I’ll try to read the rest of the short list before the winner is announced on the 14th May.

Tags: independent foreign fiction prize