Mahasweta Devi and V.S.Naipaul are among the 14 writers from 12 countries who are in the running for this year's Man Booker International Prize.
The Pounds 60,000 award, instituted in 2004, is different from the annual and better-known Man Booker Prize. This one recognizes a writer's lifetime achievement rather than judging him or her on the basis of the latest work. It is given every two years to a writer who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in English.
The previous two winners of the award are the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare and the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. Kadare won the inaugural one in 2005. This year's contenders were chosen by a panel of judges that included Amit Chaudhuri.
Announcing the list of contenders, who include the Peruvian novelist Mario Vegas Llosa, the chair of judges Jane Smiley - herself a Pulitzer winner - described it as a "rare combination" of some of the world's best writers.
She said: "Judging the Man Booker International Prize has made us all aware of how unusual and astonishing the literary world really is. We have all read books by authors we had never heard of before and they have turned out to be some of the best books we have ever read. I am thrilled with the list we have come up with. It makes me wonder who else is out there untranslated into English. Some of the best writers in the world have come together on this judges list regardless of celebrity or commercial success."
The other contenders are Peter Carey, Evan S.Connel, E.L.Doctorow, James Kelman, Arnost Lustig, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Antionio Tabucchi, Ngugi WaThiong'O, Dubravka Ugresic and Ludmila Ulitskaya.
The winner will be announced in May 2009 and the award given in June.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, March 20, 2009.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu, National Newspaper of India.
The Pounds 60,000 award, instituted in 2004, is different from the annual and better-known Man Booker Prize. This one recognizes a writer's lifetime achievement rather than judging him or her on the basis of the latest work. It is given every two years to a writer who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in English.
The previous two winners of the award are the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare and the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. Kadare won the inaugural one in 2005. This year's contenders were chosen by a panel of judges that included Amit Chaudhuri.
Announcing the list of contenders, who include the Peruvian novelist Mario Vegas Llosa, the chair of judges Jane Smiley - herself a Pulitzer winner - described it as a "rare combination" of some of the world's best writers.
She said: "Judging the Man Booker International Prize has made us all aware of how unusual and astonishing the literary world really is. We have all read books by authors we had never heard of before and they have turned out to be some of the best books we have ever read. I am thrilled with the list we have come up with. It makes me wonder who else is out there untranslated into English. Some of the best writers in the world have come together on this judges list regardless of celebrity or commercial success."
The other contenders are Peter Carey, Evan S.Connel, E.L.Doctorow, James Kelman, Arnost Lustig, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Antionio Tabucchi, Ngugi WaThiong'O, Dubravka Ugresic and Ludmila Ulitskaya.
The winner will be announced in May 2009 and the award given in June.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, March 20, 2009.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu, National Newspaper of India.
