- Oman novelist Jokha Alharthi was among five female nominees shortlisted for the award for her novel ‘Celestial Bodies’
- The British-based prize celebrates the translated English-language versions of novels from around the world
- The Man Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for five decades
- The winner will be revealed in London on May 21
For the first time in the history of the Man Booker International Prize, an Omani author has been shortlisted for the illustrious award. Oman novelist Jokha Alharthi was among five female nominees for this year’s Man Booker International Prize.
Alharthi is in the running for her novel ‘Celestial Bodies’, which follows three sisters in the village of al-Awafi in Oman. AFP’s description of the book says: “These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society which is slowly redefining itself after the colonial era, to the crossroads of its complex present.”
‘Omanis, through their writing, invite others to look at Oman with an open mind and heart.’ Author Jokha Alharthi & translator Marilyn Booth tell us what it has been like to make the longlist in this #MBI2019 interview: https://t.co/FhB4WHKRrF pic.twitter.com/Tq5DYSSj7b
— Man Booker Prize (@ManBookerPrize) April 1, 2019
Last year’s award was won by Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, who is also one of the shortlisted authors this year. Women dominated this award with five of the six nominees being women.
Other shortlisted authors include: French novelist Annie Ernaux, for her autobiographical work The Years, translated by Alison L. Strayer; German writer Marion Poschmann, for The Pine Islands, translated by Jen Calleja; Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, for Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones; and Chilean-Italian Alia Trabucco Zeran, for The Remainder, which was translated by Sophie Hughes.
The Man Booker International Prize is awarded each year to the best book translated into English and published in Britain or Ireland.
Which books will make the #MBI2019 shortlist? Watch the announcement live on our Facebook page from 7pm BST.#FinestFiction #fiction #shortlist #translatedfiction pic.twitter.com/aEqvm89OBd
— Man Booker Prize (@ManBookerPrize) April 9, 2019
