BTBA ... 2014 ?

       As I mentioned yesterday, the winners of the Best Translated Book Awards were announced on Friday. Last year, I looked ahead to the titles I thought would be in the running for this year's fiction prize, and with two shortlisted titles (including the winning one) and two additional longlisted titles among my top five contenders I didn't do too badly -- so I'll try again, and look ahead to the 2014 prize.
       Recall the any first translation (no re-translations !) published in the US in 2013 is eligible. Given that, the early favorites seem to me to be:

• Tirza by Arnon Grunberg - a longtime favorite hereabouts, it looks like a strong contender
  
  
• Sandalwood Death by Mo Yan - I was really impressed by this one, and I'd be surprised if it didn't make the shortlist
  
  
• Where Tigers are at Home by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès - it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, but is a really solid and entertaining piece of work
  
  
• Seiobo There Below by Krasznahorkai László - the author of this year's winning title, and even if the translator is a different one (Ottilie Mulzet does the honors with this one), any Krasznahorkai is sure to figure in the prize-conversation. (Caveat: I haven't seen this one yet.)

       Titles that look like solid longlist contenders include:

• The Light and the Dark by Mikhail Shishkin - his Maidenhair was a very strong contender this year, and it could come down to another Krasznahorkai-Shishkin showdown next year (but: I haven't seen this one yet)
  
  
• The Infatuations by Javier Marías - sounds like a strong possible contender (but I haven't seen it yet ...)
  
  
• City of Angels by Christa Wolf - solid and substantial, should be somewhere in the running
  
  
• The Ingenious Gentleman and Poet Federico García Lorca Ascends to Hell by Carlos Rojas - an impressive text, and an impressive translation; will certainly get some attention
  
  
• My Struggle: Book Two (A Man in Love) by Karl Ove Knausgaard - I'm still amazed My Struggle: Book One didn't make the shortlist this year (it was longlisted), and maybe this, too, is too much part-of-a-bigger-whole, but it's got to be in the discussion
  
  
• Shantytown by César Aira - a longtime BTBA favorite, any book by Aira has got to be considered likely for the longlist (though I haven't seen it yet ...)

       And a few outside chances at the longlist include:

• Where There's Love, There's Hate by Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo - a stylish little work
  
  
• Revenge by Ogawa Yoko - I think it's cleverly done (and agreeably creepy); short story collections usually don't fare to well with the BTBA -- but then I consider this a novel, so ...
  
  
• The Fall of the Stone City by Ismail Kadare - maybe not the strongest Kadare, which could work against him, but certainly of some interest
  
  
• Life Form by Amélie Nothomb - what appears to be a fairly simple work turns out to be much more clever and nuanced, and I think it deserves serious consideration

       Of course, there are still a lot of 2013 titles I haven't seen (or even heard of, probably), but I think especially the early favorites listed here are very likely to be in the mix a year from now.