Author Eka Kurniawan in the Running for Man Booker International Prize
Jakarta. Indonesian author of "Man Tiger" Eka Kurniwan is among 13 selected authors to make the Man Booker Dozen, the longlist for the 2016 Man Booker International award.
"Man Tiger," translated by former features writer for the Jakarta Globe, Labodalih Sembiring, is now in the running for a shortlist of six finalists that will be announced on April 14. The winner will be announced on May 16.
Booker Prize says in a statement that a panel of five judges, chaired by Boyd Tonkin, have considered 155 books for this category. Tonkin is a senior writer for The Independent, which has recently joined forces with the Booker Prize foundation to establish the Man Booker International prize, an annual award that aims to raise the profile of translated literature. The Man Booker International prize was previously given every two years.
Tonkin said in a statement that the list highlights "the sheer diversity of great fiction today."
"From intense episodes of passion to miniature historical epics; from eerie fables of family strife to character-driven chronicles of urban life, this list showcases fiction that crosses every border. It also pays tribute to the skill and dedication of the first-rate translators who convey it to English-language readers," he said.
The other four judges are anthropologist and novelist Tahmima Anam, professor of French and comparative literature at Princeton University David Bellos, editor and academic Daniel Medin, and prize-winning British poet and author Ruth Padel.
The winner will be entitled to a 50,000 pounds ($70,000) cash prize, which will be divided equally between the author and its translator. Each shortlisted author and translator will receive 1,000 pounds after the announcement on April 14.
Eka debuted his novel "Beauty is a Wound" in 2002. "Man Tiger," or "Lelaki Harimau," was first published in 2004. He just launched his fourth book "O" in February.
The Man Booker prize, established in 1969, is an annual literary award for the best original novel that is written in the English language and published in the UK.
Here is the full longlist of 2016:
1. José Eduardo Agualusa (Angola) & Daniel Hahn: "A General Theory of Oblivion" (Harvill Secker)
2. Elena Ferrante (Italy) & Ann Goldstein: "The Story of the Lost Child" (Europa Editions)
3. Han Kang (South Korea) & Deborah Smith: "The Vegetarian" (Portobello Books)
4. Maylis de Kerangal (France) & Jessica Moore: "Mend the Living" (Maclehose Press)
5. Eka Kurniawan (Indonesia) & Labodalih Sembiring: "Man Tiger" (Verso Books)
6. Yan Lianke (China) & Carlos Rojas: "The Four Books" (Chatto & Windus)
7. Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Democratic Republic of Congo/Austria) & Roland Glasser: "Tram 83" (Jacaranda)
8. Raduan Nassar (Brazil) & Stefan Tobler: "A Cup of Rage" (Penguin Modern Classics)
9. Marie NDiaye (France) & Jordan Stump: "Ladivine" (Maclehose Press)10. Kenzaburō Ōe (Japan) & Deborah Boliner Boem: "Death by Water" (Atlantic Books)
11. Aki Ollikainen (Finland) & Emily Jeremiah, Fleur Jeremiah: "White Hunger" (Peirene Press)
12. Orhan Pamuk (Turkey) & Ekin Oklap: "A Strangeness in My Mind" (Faber & Faber)
13. Robert Seethaler (Austria) & Charlotte Collins: "A Whole Life" (Picador)
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