Established in 1994, the award aims to promote excellence in world literature. Nominees are selected by libraries in major cities worldwide. It is perhaps fitting that this award is sponsored by Dublin because, as a UNESCO City of Literature, the city's literary heritage is a major draw for visitors.
This year's winner will be chosen by a six-member international judging panel chaired by Prof. Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin, and announced by the award's patron, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy, on 25 May 2023, as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD), which is also funded by Dublin City Council.
“The titles on this year’s shortlist were nominated by public libraries in Hungary, Germany, Bosnia, Mexico and the USA," says the Lord Mayor. "The beauty of this award is that it highlights authors and readers worldwide while celebrating excellence in contemporary literature.“
The six shortlisted titles for the award are...
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
4th Estate
9780008478674
Nominated by the Katona József Library of Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary
4th Estate
9780008478674
Nominated by the Katona József Library of Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary
In Constantinople, 1453, an orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy risk everything to protect their loved ones. In Idaho, 2020, an impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. And, sometime in the future, a child turns to old stories for guidance when her community is imperiled. Their stories, bound together by an ancient text, form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself.
What the Judges Say: "The settings may be kaleidoscopic but the characters are wholly engaging, teenagers negotiating similar questions across the centuries: what knowledge do we need for adult life, how can we survive, live well and be good in times of scarcity? Is it safer to fear or to hope? The novel is rooted in libraries, archives and repositories, returning always to the precious cargos of the written word."
What the Judges Say: "The settings may be kaleidoscopic but the characters are wholly engaging, teenagers negotiating similar questions across the centuries: what knowledge do we need for adult life, how can we survive, live well and be good in times of scarcity? Is it safer to fear or to hope? The novel is rooted in libraries, archives and repositories, returning always to the precious cargos of the written word."
The Trees by Percival Everett
Influx Press
9781914391170
Nominated by the Free Library of Philadelphia, U.S.
Influx Press
9781914391170
Nominated by the Free Library of Philadelphia, U.S.
Two detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation run into obstacles as they try to solve a string of murders with a common thread. But after they discover that similar murders are happening all over the country, they end up uncovering a dark chapter in history.
What the Judges Say: "Ultimately, The Trees emerges as a passionate and unremitting novel about the legacy of racially-inspired hate crimes in the United States, extending beyond African-Americans to Chinese-Americans and Native Americans. Seldom has a writer turned the disturbing power of horror and supernatural fiction to such an urgent purpose than in this compelling novel."
What the Judges Say: "Ultimately, The Trees emerges as a passionate and unremitting novel about the legacy of racially-inspired hate crimes in the United States, extending beyond African-Americans to Chinese-Americans and Native Americans. Seldom has a writer turned the disturbing power of horror and supernatural fiction to such an urgent purpose than in this compelling novel."
Paradais by Fernanda Melchor
(Translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes)
Fitzcarraldo Editions
9781913097875
Nominated by Biblioteca Daniel Cosío Villegas, Mexico
(Translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes)
Fitzcarraldo Editions
9781913097875
Nominated by Biblioteca Daniel Cosío Villegas, Mexico
Inside a luxury housing complex, two teenagers sneak around and get drunk. Each facing the impossibility of getting what he desires, they hatch a mindless and macabre scheme. Paradais explores the explosive fragility of Mexican society and how the myths, desires, and hardships of teenagers can tear life apart at the seams.
What the Judges Say: "In fevered, snaking sentences, Fernanda Melchor adopts the point of view of the perpetrators, their compulsive desire for whatever they cannot have. From the first page we know, even when we’d rather not – where it’s all heading, but Melchor’s prose is so mesmerizing that I dare you to let go of the book before its very end."
What the Judges Say: "In fevered, snaking sentences, Fernanda Melchor adopts the point of view of the perpetrators, their compulsive desire for whatever they cannot have. From the first page we know, even when we’d rather not – where it’s all heading, but Melchor’s prose is so mesmerizing that I dare you to let go of the book before its very end."
Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp
(Translated from German by Jo Heinrich)
Peirene Press
9781908670694
Nominated by Stadtbüchereien Düsseldorf, Germany
(Translated from German by Jo Heinrich)
Peirene Press
9781908670694
Nominated by Stadtbüchereien Düsseldorf, Germany
A woman nearing middle age quits writing to retrain as a chiropodist (someone who treats foot-related ailments) in the suburb of Marzahn on the outskirts of Berlin. From the foot of the clinic chair, she observes her clients and co-workers and gets to know them through their personal histories.
What the Judges Say: "As the novel progresses, we meet character after character as the narrator does, through their feet, and through this slow, deliberate culmination of vignettes, nimbly translated by Jo Heinrich, a greater portrait is achieved, that of how individuals are inevitably shaped by the ever-turning cogs of the machine of history."
What the Judges Say: "As the novel progresses, we meet character after character as the narrator does, through their feet, and through this slow, deliberate culmination of vignettes, nimbly translated by Jo Heinrich, a greater portrait is achieved, that of how individuals are inevitably shaped by the ever-turning cogs of the machine of history."
Love Novel by Ivana Sajko
(Translated from Croatian by Mima Simić)
V&Q Books
9783863913304
Nominated by the Rijeka City Library, Croatia
(Translated from Croatian by Mima Simić)
V&Q Books
9783863913304
Nominated by the Rijeka City Library, Croatia
This short novel traces the breakdown of the ties between a scholar and an actress. Trapped within the walls of their tiny apartment, the latter finds little solace in the acting jobs she takes. Tensions heighten when a child is introduced, threatening to bring their relationship to a tumultuous end.
What the Judges Say: "[Ivana] Sajko takes no prisoners in her uncompromising and unrelenting story of what goes on between the unnamed couple in a city where the 'system' can grind anyone into a state of despair and panic. ... [The novel] gloriously marries sociopolitical commentary on failed capitalism in a failed state to the inevitability of failed marriage, locating the narrative in an extraordinary violence of mind and body".
What the Judges Say: "[Ivana] Sajko takes no prisoners in her uncompromising and unrelenting story of what goes on between the unnamed couple in a city where the 'system' can grind anyone into a state of despair and panic. ... [The novel] gloriously marries sociopolitical commentary on failed capitalism in a failed state to the inevitability of failed marriage, locating the narrative in an extraordinary violence of mind and body".
Em by Kim Thúy
(Translated from French by Sheila Fischman)
9781644211151
Seven Stories Press
Nominated by the Hartford Public Library, U.S.
(Translated from French by Sheila Fischman)
9781644211151
Seven Stories Press
Nominated by the Hartford Public Library, U.S.
Em is steeped in the history of those hit hardest by the Vietnam War. The war’s impact is told through the stories of the novel's characters, particularly two war orphans. Thúy's poetic, haunting portrait of human pain and perseverance will stay with readers long after they put the book down.
What the Judges Say: "[The novel] is an attempt to salvage something human from what the Vietnamese called the American war. And it is possible to read the book in several ways. As a novel, it reads like a personal essay, its writing precise and its stories provisional as it pieces together fragments of human lives lost on all sides of the conflict. On the other hand, it reads like an epic odyssey through the storms of war in less than 150 pages."
What the Judges Say: "[The novel] is an attempt to salvage something human from what the Vietnamese called the American war. And it is possible to read the book in several ways. As a novel, it reads like a personal essay, its writing precise and its stories provisional as it pieces together fragments of human lives lost on all sides of the conflict. On the other hand, it reads like an epic odyssey through the storms of war in less than 150 pages."
Dublin City Librarian, Mairead Owens, thanked the libraries who nominated this year's titles and lauded the judges' picks for the shortlist. “Selecting six titles from such a strong longlist of 70 books is a challenge and I commend our judging panel for presenting us with such a diverse and interesting shortlist."
A pity that 912 Batu Road didn't make the shortlist, but with so many titles vying for the prize, getting shortlisted can be quite a long shot. We still hope many of you will give Viji Krishnamoorthy's debut novel a go – who knows, it might turn out to be a winner for you.
Congratulations to the shortlisted nominees! We eagerly await the announcement of the winner on 25 May.
A pity that 912 Batu Road didn't make the shortlist, but with so many titles vying for the prize, getting shortlisted can be quite a long shot. We still hope many of you will give Viji Krishnamoorthy's debut novel a go – who knows, it might turn out to be a winner for you.
Congratulations to the shortlisted nominees! We eagerly await the announcement of the winner on 25 May.
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