The bizarre literary prize that is the International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award has announced its longlist -- 142 books, a (sort of) impressive 49 in translation, originally written in 16 languages.
On the one hand, it's a neat idea -- libraries from around the world nominate books ! On the other hand, it's a batty idea -- libraries from select few libraries in parts of the world (preferably apparently not ... off-color parts of the world) nominate (far too often local) works.
Yes, this is a prize which has as many nominators (one) from Liechtenstein as it does from all of Africa. More nominators from Iceland (one) than Japan (zero). More nominators from the Caribbean (two -- Jamaica and Barbados) than all of South America (one -- Brazil).
And of course nationalism rules the day (surely the first rule here should be: you can't nominate a book by an author from the country you represent). So, for example, the National Library of Liechtenstein nominated ... Kurt J. Jaeger's The Abyssinian Cache because ... well, of course they did -- who wouldn't have ? Because you've seen The Abyssinian Cache at your local library/bookstore/friend's house. Amazon ranking 5,956,751 ? Pah -- it's published (meaning in this case also: self-published) by illustrious ... Windsor Verlag, with which you're as familiar as you are with Kurt J. Jaeger (who admirably and industriously also self-translated his masterpiece). (In case you unfathomably haven't gotten a copy for yourself yet: see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.)
Look: I don't know, Kurt J. Jaeger may be the next coming of Günter Grass, Thomas Bernhard, and W.G.Sebald rolled into one -- but this sure smells to me like a hometown boy being put up for a prize that is way, way out of his league.
Somehow, among the 141 other international contenders not a single work written in Arabic or Japanese makes the cut ? Sure, impressively a title translated from the Malay is in the mix -- but, hey, guess what: it was nominated by the National Library of Malaysia. For god's sake, the 'Literature Translation Institute of Korea Library' nominated two titles whose translation into English their parent organization subsidized -- how is that okay ? how is that permissible ? (And why is one of those -- At Least We Can Apologize by Lee Ki-ho -- listed on the 2015 Printable Longlist but not on the list of The Nominees ? I know it's hard to keep track of so many titles, but ... sheesh.)
Anyway, the result is a mix of some really good stuff and ... works by ... how shall I put it politely ? less widely recognized ? local authors such as Kurt J. Jaeger. One hopes the judges will be able to separate the wheat fromThe Abyssinian Cache the chaff.
A fair number of the nominated titles are under review at the complete review (and I'm also surprised by how many more I've read but didn't get around to reviewing) -- alas, not (yet ?) The Abyssinian Cache:
See also M.Lynx Qualey on The Curious Relationship Between the IMPAC Prize and Arabic Literature at Arabic Literature (in English).
On the one hand, it's a neat idea -- libraries from around the world nominate books ! On the other hand, it's a batty idea -- libraries from select few libraries in parts of the world (preferably apparently not ... off-color parts of the world) nominate (far too often local) works.
Yes, this is a prize which has as many nominators (one) from Liechtenstein as it does from all of Africa. More nominators from Iceland (one) than Japan (zero). More nominators from the Caribbean (two -- Jamaica and Barbados) than all of South America (one -- Brazil).
And of course nationalism rules the day (surely the first rule here should be: you can't nominate a book by an author from the country you represent). So, for example, the National Library of Liechtenstein nominated ... Kurt J. Jaeger's The Abyssinian Cache because ... well, of course they did -- who wouldn't have ? Because you've seen The Abyssinian Cache at your local library/bookstore/friend's house. Amazon ranking 5,956,751 ? Pah -- it's published (meaning in this case also: self-published) by illustrious ... Windsor Verlag, with which you're as familiar as you are with Kurt J. Jaeger (who admirably and industriously also self-translated his masterpiece). (In case you unfathomably haven't gotten a copy for yourself yet: see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.)
Look: I don't know, Kurt J. Jaeger may be the next coming of Günter Grass, Thomas Bernhard, and W.G.Sebald rolled into one -- but this sure smells to me like a hometown boy being put up for a prize that is way, way out of his league.
Somehow, among the 141 other international contenders not a single work written in Arabic or Japanese makes the cut ? Sure, impressively a title translated from the Malay is in the mix -- but, hey, guess what: it was nominated by the National Library of Malaysia. For god's sake, the 'Literature Translation Institute of Korea Library' nominated two titles whose translation into English their parent organization subsidized -- how is that okay ? how is that permissible ? (And why is one of those -- At Least We Can Apologize by Lee Ki-ho -- listed on the 2015 Printable Longlist but not on the list of The Nominees ? I know it's hard to keep track of so many titles, but ... sheesh.)
Anyway, the result is a mix of some really good stuff and ... works by ... how shall I put it politely ? less widely recognized ? local authors such as Kurt J. Jaeger. One hopes the judges will be able to separate the wheat from
A fair number of the nominated titles are under review at the complete review (and I'm also surprised by how many more I've read but didn't get around to reviewing) -- alas, not (yet ?) The Abyssinian Cache:
- At Least We Can Apologize by Lee Ki-ho
- A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Piñeiro
- The Devil's Workshop by Jáchym Topol
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
- In Times of Fading Light by Eugen Ruge
- The Infatuations by Javier Marías
- Let the Games Begin by Niccolò Ammaniti
- Life Form by Amélie Nothomb
- The Light and the Dark by Mikhail Shishkin
- A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgaard
- Night Film by Marisha Pessl
- No One Writes Back by Jang Eun-jin
- The Parrots by Filippo Bologna
- Quesadillas by Juan Pablo Villalobos
- The Story of My Purity by Francesco Pacifico
- The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto
- Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra
See also M.Lynx Qualey on The Curious Relationship Between the IMPAC Prize and Arabic Literature at Arabic Literature (in English).