International Booker Prize 2023: shortlist in full - from Whale to Time Shelter

The winner of the six books that have made it onto the shortlist will be announced on 23 May
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The International Booker Prize 2023 shortlist has officially been announced at the London Book Fair. The annual prize is awarded to a novel or short story collection originally written in any language, translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. 

The winner of the International Booker Prize will receive £50,000 in prize money which is divided equally between the winning author and their translator. All shortlisted authors and translators will also receive £2,500. 

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Previous International Booker Prize winners from recent years include Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (translated by Daisy Rockwell), At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop (translated by Anna Moschovakis), The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (translated by Michele Hutchinson), Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth) and Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Jennifer Croft). 

These are all the books shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023 and their descriptions, per The Booker Prize. 

Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel (translated by Rosalind Harvey)

Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel (Photo: International Booker Prize)Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel (Photo: International Booker Prize)
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel (Photo: International Booker Prize)

Alina and Laura are independent and career-driven women in their mid-thirties, neither of whom have built their future around the prospect of a family. Laura has taken the drastic decision to be sterilised, but as time goes by Alina becomes drawn to the idea of becoming a mother.   

When complications arise in Alina’s pregnancy and Laura becomes attached to her neighbour’s son, both women are forced to reckon with the complexity of their emotions, in Nettel’s sensitive and surgically precise exploration of maternal ambivalence. 

Standing Heavy by GauZ’ (translated by Frank Wynne)

Standing Heavy by GauZ’ (Photo: International Booker Prize)Standing Heavy by GauZ’ (Photo: International Booker Prize)
Standing Heavy by GauZ’ (Photo: International Booker Prize)
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Amidst the political bickering of the inhabitants of the Residence for Students from Côte d’Ivoire and the ever-changing landscape of French immigration policy, two generations of Ivoirians attempt to make their way as undocumented workers, taking shifts as security guards at a flour mill. 

This sharply satirical yet poignant tale draws on the author’s own experiences as an undocumented student in Paris. 

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (translated by Angela Rodel)

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (Photo: International Booker Prize)Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (Photo: International Booker Prize)
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (Photo: International Booker Prize)

An unnamed narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to scents, and even afternoon light. But as the rooms become more convincing, an increasing number of healthy people seek out the clinic as a ‘time shelter’, hoping to escape the horrors of modern life - a development that results in an unexpected conundrum when the past begins to invade the present. 

Intricately crafted, and eloquently translated by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter cements Georgi Gospodinov’s reputation as one of the indispensable writers of our times, and a major voice in international literature.  

The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé (translated by Richard Philcox)

The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé (Photo: International Booker Prize)The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé (Photo: International Booker Prize)
The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé (Photo: International Booker Prize)
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Baby Pascal is strikingly beautiful, brown in complexion, with grey-green eyes like the sea. But where does he come from? Is he really the child of God? So goes the rumour, and many signs throughout his life will cause this theory to gain ground.  

From journey to journey and from one community to another, Pascal sets off in search of his origins, trying to understand the meaning of his mission. Will he be able to change the fate of humanity? And what will the New World Gospel reveal? 

Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan (translated by Chi-Young Kim)

Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan (Photo: International Booker Prize)Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan (Photo: International Booker Prize)
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan (Photo: International Booker Prize)

Set in a remote village in South Korea, Whale follows the lives of three linked characters: Geumbok, an extremely ambitious woman who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle. 

A fiction that brims with surprises and wicked humour, from one of the most original voices in South Korea.  

Boulder by Eva Baltasar (translated by Julia Sanches)

Boulder by Eva Baltasar (Photo: International Booker Prize)Boulder by Eva Baltasar (Photo: International Booker Prize)
Boulder by Eva Baltasar (Photo: International Booker Prize)
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Working as a cook on a merchant ship, a woman comes to know and love Samsa, who gives her the nickname ‘Boulder’. When the couple decide to move to Reykjavik together, Samsa announces that she wants to have a child. She is already 40 and can’t bear to let the opportunity pass her by.  

Boulder is less enthused but doesn’t know how to say no - and so finds herself dragged along on a journey that feels as thankless as it is alien. With motherhood changing Samsa into a stranger, Boulder must decide where her priorities lie, and whether her yearning for freedom will trump her yearning for love.

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