\n<\/p>\n
The majority of the books nominated for this year\u2019s International Booker Prize, the prestigious award for fiction translated into English, are under 200 pages long.<\/p>\n
Only one is over 300 pages: Mircea Cartarescu\u2019s 627-page \u201cSolenoid<\/a>,\u201d translated by Sean Cotter. It is also one of the most high-profile novels on the list.<\/p>\n Many literary critics have long touted Cartarescu as a potential Nobel Prize laureate, and the Romanian author\u2019s nominated tome<\/a> concerns a schoolteacher reflecting on his life, family and disturbing dreams.<\/p>\n The other titles, announced by the prize organizers in London on Tuesday, include Saou Ichikawa\u2019s 100-page \u201cHunchback,\u201d translated from Japanese by Polly Barton, about the sexual desires of a disabled care home resident, and Solvej Balle\u2019s 169-page \u201cOn the Calculation of Volume I<\/a>,\u201d translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland, in which an antiquarian book dealer relives the same day over and again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Max Porter, the chair of this year\u2019s judging panel, said in an interview that the selection of so many short books didn\u2019t reflect a \u201cmuch-prophesied loss of attention span\u201d among readers. The 13 titles were simply the best the panel had read, he added.<\/p>\n Some book award judges gravitate toward long novels, he added, thinking that writing longer is harder, but finessing a short novel was an equal challenge. \u201cSome of these books don\u2019t have a wasted word,\u201d Porter said.<\/p>\n Established in 2005, the International Booker Prize was originally awarded to an author for their entire body of work. Since 2016, it has been given to a single book translated into English and published in Britain or Ireland during the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s prize went to Jenny Erpenbeck\u2019s \u201cKairos\u201d<\/a> translated by Michael Hofmann, and previous winners have included Han Kang\u2019s \u201cThe Vegetarian\u201d<\/a> and Olga Tokarczuk\u2019s \u201cFlights.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The award comes with prize money of 50,000 pounds, or about $63,000, which the winning author and translator share equally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This year\u2019s other nominees include Ibtisam Azem\u2019s \u201cThe Book of Disappearance,\u201d translated from Arabic by Sinan Antoon, which imagines a day in Tel Aviv when Israelis awake to find all their Palestinian neighbors have vanished; and Astrid Roemer\u2019s<\/a> \u201cOn a Woman\u2019s Madness,\u201d about a woman who abandons an abusive marriage and has a series of affairs, including one with a woman. Originally published in the Netherlands in 1982, \u201cOn a Woman\u2019s Madness\u201d was a finalist<\/a> for the 2023 National Book Awards. It was translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The judges will now cut the list down to six nominees, scheduled to be announced on April 8. The winner will revealed during a ceremony at Tate Modern, in London, on May 20.<\/p>\n The full list of nominees is:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Book of Disappearance\u201d by Ibtisam Azem, translated from Arabic by Sinan Antoon<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cOn the Calculation of Volume I<\/a>\u201d by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a Monster Behind the Door,\u201d by Ga\u00eblle B\u00e9lem, translated from French by Karen Fleetwood and La\u00ebtitia Saint-Loubert<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cSolenoid<\/a>\u201d by Mircea Cartarescu, translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cReservoir Bitches\u201d by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated from Spanish by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cSmall Boat\u201d by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cHunchback\u201d by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton from Japanese<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cUnder the Eye of the Big Bird<\/a>,\u201d by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cEurotrash\u201d by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles from German<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cPerfection\u201d by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cHeart Lamp\u201d by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi from Kannada<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cOn a Woman\u2019s Madness\u201d by Astrid Roemer<\/a>, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cA Leopard-Skin Hat\u201d by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n