Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The Man Booker International Prize 2016



 
Translated Fiction at its Finest


Judging Panel Announced



The judges for the newly configured 2016 Man Booker International Prize are announced today, 25 August 2015.

Chaired by Boyd Tonkin, Senior Writer at The Independent, the panel consists of: anthropologist and novelist Tahmima Anam; academic David Bellos, who is currently Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University; editor and academic Daniel Medin, who holds a comparative literature professorship at the American University of Paris (AUP) and prize-winning British poet and author Ruth Padel.

Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the prize, comments: 

‘The judges of the Man Booker International Prize 2016 together have a diverse and unparalleled knowledge of international literature. Encompassing award-winning writers, translators and editors themselves, their enthusiasm and expertise will ensure that our newly configured prize recognises the very best of translated fiction.’

2016 will be the first year that the Man Booker International Prize will be awarded in its new form.

Announced in July, the Man Booker International Prize has now joined forces with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (IFFP), bringing the best of the IFFP to the new venture. The newly evolved prize has been designed to encourage more publishing and reading of quality fiction in translation. Its configuration also gives greater recognition to the role of translators.

As from 2016, the prize will be awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK, rather than every two years for a body of work. Both novels and collections of short stories are eligible. In addition, the work of translators will now be directly rewarded, with the new £50,000 prize being divided equally between the author and the translator of the winning entry.

The Man Booker International Prize in its new form will continue to uphold its well-established reputation as a leading accolade in world literature.

The judges will select a longlist of 12 or 13 books in March 2016, followed by a shortlist of six books in April 2016. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London in May 2016.


The Prize is sponsored by Man Group, one of the world’s largest independent alternative investment managers, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Both prizes strive to recognise and reward the finest in modern literature.

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