Booker Prize 2023

Remembering the past Spring Literature Awards Season

Back in March/April the Spring Literature Award Season saw the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 won by Barbara Kingsolver for Demon Copperhead, a book I did eventually read but didn’t review; the Dublin Literary Award, a celebrated worldwide librarian nominated award, won by Katja Oskamp, translated from German by Jo Heinrich, for the excellent, life-affirming novella Marzhan, Mon Amour, a book I absolutely loved – how could I not, a writer turned well-being practitioner protagonist (much like Oskamp herself), who soothes aches and pains of the body, mind and soul of her small, often misunderstood community.

Then there was the International Booker Prize (fiction in translation) shortlist, from which I read three novels, the outstanding read for me being Mexican author Guadalupe Nettel’s Still Born, the top prize going to Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov for his novel Time Shelter, translated by Angela Rodel.

I shared the results of the New Zealand Book Awards and though these titles are not easy to get hold of, I did manage to read Grand: Becoming My Mother’s Daughter by Noelle McCarthy which won the Best First Book in the General Nonfiction category, with Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival winning the fiction award, one I hope to read in 2024.

Autumn Literature Award Winner Week

This week will see the unveiling of three more literature awards that I’m curious about.

Irish Book Awards 2023

On Wed 22 November, the winners of the Irish Book Awards 2023 will be announced. I’ve been reading a lot of Irish literature this year, including almost half of the 8 fiction titles shortlisted for Novel of the Year and one title Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan that is shortlisted for both Biography of the Year and the Listener’s Choice Awards.

So far, I’ve read and reviewed Sebastian Barry’s Old Gold’s Time which I thought was excellent and would certainly be a worthy winner, Elaine Feeney’s How To Build a Boat, a character lead scenario that I very much enjoyed, I’m almost finished reading Claire Kilroy’s intense, visceral portrayal of a young mother on the edge of parental overwhelm Soldier Sailor and I’ll soon be reading the very short contender by Claire Keegan (so short it might not even be a novella) So Late In the Day.

The Booker Prize 2023

It’s a strong fiction lineup for the Irish Awards, with four of their shortlisted titles already featured on the Booker Prize longlist, two of which made it to the shortlist (none of which I have read); the winner will be announced on Sunday 26 November. This group of six books below was said by the judges to “showcase the breadth of what world literature can do, while gesturing at the unease of our moment.” In this case, I found more of interest in the longlist than the shortlist.

The Warwick Prize for Women In Translation 2023

And last but not least, the winner of the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation will be announced on Thursday 23 November.

I have read one title from this shortlist, though it has only just appeared in English thanks to Charco Press, The Remains by Mexican author Margo Glantz was originally published in 2002. I describe this literary masterpiece as a lyrical elegy of tempo rubato, z divorced woman feels out of place and yet connected at her ex-husbands wake, a riveting, mind blowing (or perhaps expanding), rhythmic reading experience, just WOW!

Despite being one of the most iconic figures in Latin American literature, her work is little known in English. Charco Press now bring her work to a new audience with this excellent translation by Ellen Jones.