Novelist Han Kang, 46, has become the first Korean writer to be on the long list for the Man Booker International Prize.
The prestigious award body announced Thursday on its website 13 contenders for the 2016 prize, including Han’s 2004 novel “The Vegetarian,” translated by Deborah Smith.
“The Vegetarian” was published in the U.K. in January 2015 and in the U.S. last month to both critical and popular acclaim.
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Novelist Han Kang (Literature Translation Institute of Korea) |
Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk is also on the list with “A Strangeness in My Mind,” translated by Ekin Oklap, as is Japan's Kenzaburo Oe, also a Nobel laureate, with “Death by Water,” translated by Deborah Boliner Boem.
A short list of six books will be announced April 14, with each author and translator receiving 1,000 pounds ($1,400). The final winning book will be announced May 16 and will receive a prize of 50,000 pounds divided equally between the author and the translator.
The Man Booker International Prize is sponsored by Man Group, an investment company, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
By Rumy Doo (
doo@heraldcorp.com)
