As I (tried to) explain last month, the one-time biennial author prize that was the Man Booker International Prize ate -- and transmuted into -- what used to be the annual book prize that was the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (which no longer exists as such -- or rather exists pretty much unchanged (except there's now more prize money on offer) but is now called the 'Man Booker International Prize' ...).
Now: The Man Booker International Prize 2016 Judges Announced -- and a pretty impressive panel it is, chaired by Independent Foreign Fiction Prize-holdover Boyd Tonkin, and including Tahmima Anam, Ruth Padel, Daniel Medin, and, most impressively, David Bellos.
Of particular interest: Medin was a two-time Best Translated Book Award judge, and he's the first to serve on the juries for both of these leading translation prizes. And of course it raises the question of whether Krasznahorkai's Seiobo There Below isn't the prohibitive favorite to take the 2016 Man Booker International Prize -- it won the 2014 BTBA (on which Medin served as one of the judges, as did I). (It is presumably eligible, with official UK publication only coming this year; get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.)
One of the reasons they apparently ditched the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and went all-in on the revised Man Booker International Prize was to take advantage of the brand recognition. It's disappointing then to see that, aside from a more or less regurgitated press release mention at The Bookseller the announcement of the judging panel so far hasn't rated any major-press mention. Sure, this isn't the most exciting news in the world -- but you'd (well, I'd) figure it would make for filler-material in the British papers at this relatively slow-news time of the year. It's hard to imagine something won't pop up -- especially at The Independent, given the Tonkin connection -- but so far the Man Booker brand hasn't pulled its weight .....
Now: The Man Booker International Prize 2016 Judges Announced -- and a pretty impressive panel it is, chaired by Independent Foreign Fiction Prize-holdover Boyd Tonkin, and including Tahmima Anam, Ruth Padel, Daniel Medin, and, most impressively, David Bellos.
Of particular interest: Medin was a two-time Best Translated Book Award judge, and he's the first to serve on the juries for both of these leading translation prizes. And of course it raises the question of whether Krasznahorkai's Seiobo There Below isn't the prohibitive favorite to take the 2016 Man Booker International Prize -- it won the 2014 BTBA (on which Medin served as one of the judges, as did I). (It is presumably eligible, with official UK publication only coming this year; get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.)
One of the reasons they apparently ditched the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and went all-in on the revised Man Booker International Prize was to take advantage of the brand recognition. It's disappointing then to see that, aside from a more or less regurgitated press release mention at The Bookseller the announcement of the judging panel so far hasn't rated any major-press mention. Sure, this isn't the most exciting news in the world -- but you'd (well, I'd) figure it would make for filler-material in the British papers at this relatively slow-news time of the year. It's hard to imagine something won't pop up -- especially at The Independent, given the Tonkin connection -- but so far the Man Booker brand hasn't pulled its weight .....