Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012
The winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 was announced on 14 May at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London:
Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld, translated by Jeffrey M Green from the Hebrew, published by Alma Books
At 80, Appelfeld was the oldest author to win the prestigious Prize, following on from the youngest ever winner, Santiago Roncagliolo, who won the Prize last year. The £10,000 award was shared equally with Appelfeld's American translator, Jeffrey M Green.
For more information, please do have a look at the press release.
Aharon Appelfeld was chosen from a strong shortlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012:
• Alice by Judith Hermann, translated from the German by Margot Bettauer Dembo (The Clerkenwell Press)
• Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld, translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green (Alma Books)
• Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke, translated from the Chinese by Cindy Carter (Corsair)
• From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (Telegram Books)
• New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani, translated from the Italian by Judith Landry (Dedalus)
• The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon (Harvill Secker)
The Prize honours the best work of fiction by a living author, which has been translated into English from any other language and published in the United Kingdom. Uniquely, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize acknowledges both the novelist and the translator equally, recognising the importance of the translator in their ability to bridge the gap between languages and cultures. The winning author and translator are awarded £5,000 each.
The longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 was announced on 8 March:
• Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld Translated by Jeffrey M Green
• Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
• The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco Translated by Richard Dixon
• Hate: a Romance by Tristan Garcia Translator: Marion Duvert and Lorin Stein
• Alice by Judith Hermann Translated by Margot Bettauer Dembo
• The Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke Translated by Cindy Carter
• New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani Translated by Judith Landry
• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Books 1 and 2 translated by Jay Rubin
• Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas Translated by Imre Goldstein
• Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz Translated by Nicholas de Lange
• Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki Translated by Anthea Bell
• The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg Translated by Sarah Death
• Please Look After Mother by Kyung Sook-Shin Translated by Chi-Young Kim
• From the Mouth of a Whale by Sjón Translated by Victoria Cribb
• Professor Andersen's Night by Dag Solstad Translated by Scott Langeland
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2011
The winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2011 was:
- Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish, published by Atlantic Books
At 36, Roncagliolo was the youngest-ever author, as well as the first from Peru, to win the Prize. The £10,000 award was shared equally with Roncagliolo's American translator, Edith Grossman, who was also a first-time winner. She was previously shortlisted for the Prize in 2003.
Please see the press release for more information.
The shortlisted titles were:
- Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish, published by Atlantic Books
- Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne from the Spanish, published by Atlantic Books
- The Sickness by Alberto Barrera Tyszka, translated by Margaret Jull Costa from the Spanish, published by Maclehose Press
- Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky from the German, published by Portobello Books
- The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Maureen Freely from the Turkish, published by Faber and Faber
- I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson, translated by Charlotte Barslund with Per Petterson from the Norwegian, published by Harvill Secker
Interested in reading one of these titles?
We offered six reading groups the opportunity to read, discuss and review the shortlisted titles. The reviews were published here and on Booktrust's website. If your reading group has read one of the books, or is planning to read one, please email us your reviews.
Competition
We offered one reading group the chance to attend the awards ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London on Thursday 26 May. The reading group had to tell us, in 250 words, why they liked reading translated fiction.
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize longlist
The longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2011 was announced on 10 March. The following titles were longlisted:
- Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky from the German, published by Portobello Books
- Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne from the Spanish, published by Atlantic Books
- To the End of the Land by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen from Hebrew, published by Jonathan Cape
- Fame by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Carol Brown Janeway from the German, published by Quercus
- Beside the Sea by Veronique Olmi, translated by Adriana Hunter from the French, published by Peirene Press
- The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Maureen Freely from the Turkish, published by Faber and Faber
- I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson, translated by Charlotte Barslund with Per Petterson from the Norwegian, published by Harvill Secker
- Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish, published by Atlantic Books
- Gargling with Tar by Jachym Topol, translated by David Short from the Czech, published by Portobello Books
- The Sickness by Alberto Barrera Tyszka, translated by Margaret Jull Costa from the Spanish, published by Maclehose Press
- The Secret History of Costaguana by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish, published by Bloomsbury
- The Journey of Anders Sparrman by Per Wastberg, translated by Tom Geddes from the Swedish, published by Granta
- Lovetown by Michal Witkowski, translated by W Martin from the Polish, published by Portobello Books
- Villain by Shuichi Yoshida, translated by Philip Gabriel from the Japanese, published by Harvill Secker
- Dark Matter by Juli Zeh, translated by Christine Lo from the German, published by Harvill Secker