‘Subversive and sensual’ shortlist announced for International Booker Prize 2023

The shortlist of six books includes works originating in six countries across four continents, two debuts – and a final novel

The shortlist for the International Booker Prize 2023 was announced today, April 18, by the Chair of judges, Leïla Slimani, at an event held at the London Book Fair.  

The shortlisted titles are: 

• Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches 

• Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim 

• The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox 

• Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated by Frank Wynne 

• Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel 

• Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey 

The six books, originating in six countries across four continents, explore the challenges of motherhood, the struggles of undocumented workers and the dangers of nostalgia, while the authors include ‘the grande dame of Caribbean literature’, ‘a Proust from the East’, a ‘pre-eminent chronicler of queer voices’ and a former security guard. There are two debut novels and one final novel on the list. To find out more about the shortlist, click the link below.

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Leïla Slimani, International Booker Prize 2023 Chair of judges, said: 

‘I think it's a very cool, very sexy list. We wanted each book to feel like an astonishment and to stand on its own. These books are all bold, subversive, nicely perverse. There is something sneaky about a lot of them. I also feel that these are sensual books, where the question of the body is important. What is it like to have a body? How do you write about the experience of the body? These are not abstract or theoretical books but, on the contrary, very grounded books, about people, places, moments.  

‘What is extraordinary about literature is that when a novel is successful, it works with anyone, anywhere. There's something really magical about storytelling. And we have had the joy of experiencing this by reading the books on this list. We have been caught up in these stories, dazzled, fascinated and it is these emotions that we want to share. I'm very happy to offer this list to readers – a list of remarkable variety, where they will find poetry, fantasy, eroticism and metaphysics.’ 

Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the International Booker Prize, added: 

‘Just under half of the translated fiction sold in Britain is bought by people under 35, according to new research conducted by Nielsen for the Booker Prize Foundation. This is an astonishing statistic, and is part of a far wider cultural trend in which more and more films, TV series and music originating in languages other than English have become part of the global mainstream. Young people are curious, adventurous and engaged – and have a very porous sense of national borders. This presents an enormous opportunity that no publisher or bookseller of fiction in translation should ignore. We look forward to seeing this exciting shortlist, expertly chosen by the judges, reaching the hands of readers – young and old – around the world.’ 

The panel of judges also includes Uilleam Blacker, one of Britain’s leading literary translators from Ukrainian; Tan Twan Eng, the Booker-shortlisted Malaysian novelist; Parul Sehgal, staff writer and critic at the New Yorker; and Frederick Studemann, Literary Editor of the Financial Times. We asked them to explain what impressed, delighted and moved them most about each book on this year’s shortlist. Read their answers at the link below.

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The International Booker Prize is the most significant award for a single work of fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. The winners’ £50,000 prize is shared equally by the winning author and translator, in recognition of the latter’s vital contribution in taking the world’s best literature beyond the borders of its original language.

The winner of the International Booker Prize 2023 will be announced at a ceremony at Sky Garden in London on Tuesday, May 23. The authors and translators of each of the six shortlisted books will receive a prize of £5,000 at the ceremony: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator.