Maryse Conde, GauZ’ on International Booker Prize 2023 longlist.

Maryse Conde, GauZ’ on International Booker Prize 2023 longlist.

Maryse Conde and GauZ’ are on the longlist for the International Booker Prize 2023 announced on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for the finest single work of fiction from around the world which has been translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. Some of the previous winners for the award, worth £50,000 split between author and translator, have been Chinua Achebe (in its older iteration) and David Diop (and its current version).

The 2023 jury is chaired by Leïla Slimani alongside academic Uilleam Blacker, author and lawyer Tan Twan Eng, The New Yorker staff writer Parul Sehgal, and Financial Times Literary Editor Frederick Studemann. They were looking for the best work of international fiction translated into English, selected from entries published in the UK or Ireland between May 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023.

They have announced the longlist with the following writers of African descent in the running;

  • Standing Heavy, GauZ’, translated by Frank Wynne

Judges said, “A sharp and satirical take on the legacies of French colonial history and life in Paris today. Told in a fast-paced, and fluently translated, style of shifting perspectives, Standing Heavy carries us through the decades – from the youthful optimism of the decolonisation of the 1960s to the banal realities of daily shift work on the margins of contemporary consumer society – to deliver a fresh perspective on France that is critical, funny and human.”

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

Judges said, “Maryse Condé is one of the greatest Francophone authors and the great voice of the Caribbean. In this book, she proves again what a gifted storyteller she is. The narration is lively and fluid, and we feel carried away by this story as we do by the fables of our childhood. She takes liberties, finding references in the Bible as well as in Caribbean myths. The book borrows from the tradition of magic realism and draws us into a world full of colour and life. This is a book that succeeds in mixing humour with poetry, and depth with lightness.”

The shortlist and winner will be announced later in the year.

Watch the full announcement below;

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