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In the world of the Booker this week: half of all translated fiction is bought by under-35s; how to watch our shortlist livestream; and why we should celebrate the work of our authors and translators
Generation TF: who’s really reading translated fiction
Data compiled for the Booker Prize Foundation shows that readers of translated fiction in the UK are significantly younger than fiction readers overall. Under-35 year-olds now account for almost half of all the UK’s translated fiction purchases. The biggest demographic group for buying translated fiction is 25-34 year-olds; for fiction generally the biggest group is 60-84 year-olds. The proportion of younger readers of translated fiction is also growing: in 2022, 24.9% of translated fiction was bought by 25-34 year-olds, compared to 21% in 2021. The proportion of older buyers (aged 60-84) of translated fiction fell from 20.9% in 2021 to 13.2% in 2022. 48% of translated fiction buyers in the UK are male, compared with only 32% of fiction buyers overall.
Why we should celebrate translated fiction
The International Booker Prize exists not only to reward the best fiction originally written in languages other than English, but also to emphasise why reading such fiction matters to us all. Ahead of the 2023 shortlist announcement on April 18, we asked this year’s longlistees to tell us why they believe translated fiction should be celebrated. Laurent Mauvignier says: ‘Translation is a kind of safeguard of the teeming biodiversity of literature,’ while Maryse Condé says that ‘translation has always been treated like a poor cousin and needs to be recognised in the literary landscape’. Andrey Kurkov says: ‘Literature has to travel, and readers have to move out of their “home zone” to greet some literary guests at their port of entry – the translation.’ Translator Frank Wynne adds: ‘Literature in translation is the most powerful way of fostering empathy, of nurturing curiosity, of developing an understanding not only of others, but of ourselves.’
Watch the International Booker Prize 2023 shortlist livestream on Tuesday, April 18
On Tuesday, April 18, chair of judges Leïla Slimani will reveal which six books are on this year’s International Booker Prize shortlist. You can watch a livestream of the shortlist announcement, live from the London Book Fair, from 11.10am BST on our YouTube channel, on Facebook, and across our social channels.
Book of the Month: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Throughout April, we’re shining a spotlight on Hilary Mantel’s 2005 Booker-longlisted Beyond Black, a comically sinister tale of wicked spirits and suburban mediums, as well as being Mantel’s most personal novel. But it’s far from the only ghost story in the Booker Library, as our new reading list reveals.
And finally…
In this personal essay to mark the 25th anniversary of Northern Ireland’s Good Friday agreement, Colin Crummy explains how Anna Burns’ 2018 Booker-winning novel Milkman held up a mirror to a world of suspicion, surveillance and groupthink.
Which books are you hoping to see on the International Booker Prize 2023 shortlist? Let us know in the comments.