Man Booker International Prize 2019 longlist features Olga Tokarczuk, Can Xue's translated works, among others

The longlist for the Man Booker International Prize 2019 was announced on 13 March. The prize, that celebrates the finest works of translated fiction around the world, has 13 authors competing for it this year.

We are pleased to announce our #MBI2019 longlist. Watch what our judges had to say. Read more https://t.co/lx8XT5ZMBH#FinestFiction pic.twitter.com/8X314myMVi

— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) March 13, 2019

“This was a year when writers plundered the archive, personal and political. That drive is represented in our longlist, but so too are surreal Chinese train journeys, absurdist approaches to war and suicide, and the traumas of spirit and flesh. We’re thrilled to share 13 books which enrich our idea of what fiction can do,” said renowned author and historian Bettany Hughes who chaired the five-member jury panel for the Man Booker International Prize 2019.

This year’s longlist includes:

1. Jokha Alharthi (Arabic / Omani), Celestial Bodies — translated by Marilyn Booth
2. Can Xue (Chinese / Chinese), Love In The New Millennium — translated by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen
3. Annie Ernaux (French / French), The Years — translated by Alison L Strayer
4. Hwang Sok-yong (Korean / Korean), At Dusk — translated by Sora Kim-Russell
5. Mazen Maarouf (Arabic / Icelandic and Palestinian), Jokes For The Gunmen — translated by Jonathan Wright
6. Hubert Mingarelli (French / French), Four Soldiers — translated by Sam Taylor
7. Marion Poschmann (German / German), The Pine Islands — translated by Jen Calleja
8. Samanta Schweblin (Spanish / Argentine and Italian), Mouthful Of Birds — translated by Megan McDowell
9. Sara Stridsberg (Swedish / Swedish), The Faculty Of Dreams — translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner
10. Olga Tokarczuk (Polish / Polish), Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead — translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
11. Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Spanish / Colombian), The Shape Of The Ruins — translated by Anne McLean
12. Tommy Wieringa (Dutch / Dutch), The Death Of Murat Idrissi —  translated by Sam Garrett
13. Alia Trabucco Zeran (Spanish / Chilean and Italian), The Remainder — translated by Sophie Hughes

The other jury members included writer-translator Maureen Freely, philosopher Professor Angie Hobbs, novelists Elnathan John and Pankaj Mishra. This year, the judges went through 108 books in order to make the longlist of the selected 13.

The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every year for a book (including novels and short-story collections), which is translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. The winning author and translator share the prize money of £50,000 among themselves. Also, each author and translator listed in the shortlist are also awarded £1,000.

The shortlist (of six books) will be announced on 9 April, while the final winner of the prize will be announced on 21 May in London.