They're announcing the winner of the International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award today -- the announcement should be up at the official sometime during the day -- but in her preview in the Irish Times Eileen Battersby notes Impac promotes literature but loses in translation, as:
(But note also that Battersby repeats the canard that, at a mere €100,000, the IMPAC is: "the world's richest prize for a single work". As a quick check of the Wikipedia List of the world's richest literary prizes shows, the IMPAC is far, far down the list, remuneration-wise, even just considering book- (as opposed to also author-)prizes, with the Premio Planeta de Novela showing what real prize money for a best novel looks like: €601,000.)
This year's Impac shortlist conforms to a recent, somewhat disappointing trend, the ongoing consolidation of English and the international language of fiction. Only two of the 10 contenders is in translation. Last year, there were no translations on the shortlist.I certainly hope that changes in coming years .....
(But note also that Battersby repeats the canard that, at a mere €100,000, the IMPAC is: "the world's richest prize for a single work". As a quick check of the Wikipedia List of the world's richest literary prizes shows, the IMPAC is far, far down the list, remuneration-wise, even just considering book- (as opposed to also author-)prizes, with the Premio Planeta de Novela showing what real prize money for a best novel looks like: €601,000.)