What To Read

Each year, the judging panel of the International Booker Prize takes on the tremendously ambitious task of selecting the best of the world's literature in translation. The panel's shortlist this year includes two languages appearing on the prize list for the first time in history: Bulgarian and Catalan.

The six shortlisted books are some of the most inventive and original specimens of living writers around the globe from Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov’s novel about a “clinic of the past,” which soothes Alzheimer’s patients with experiences of bygone decades, to prolific Caribbean author Maryse Condé’s story of a miracle baby born on Easter Sunday. The selections face stiff competition for the prize, which will be announced on May 23 along with the distribution of a £50,000 award to be shared equally between the winning author and translator.

Here is this year's shortlist along with a short description of each book provided by the International Booker Prize.

Still Born

Guadalupe Nettel’s gripping and insightful fourth novel explores one of life’s most consequential decisions – whether or not to have children. 

By Guadalupe Nettel, translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey | Releases 8/8; preorder available

Time Shelter

A "clinic for the past" offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time. 

By Georgi Gospodinov, translated from the Bulgarian by Angela Rodel

The Gospel According to the New World

A miracle baby is rumored to be the child of God. Award-winning Caribbean author Maryse Condé follows his journey in search of his origins and mission. 

By Maryse Condé, translated from the French by Richard Philcox

Whale

An adventure-satire of epic proportions, which sheds new light on the changes Korea experienced in its rapid transition from pre-modern to post-modern society. 

By Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated from the Korean by Chi-Young Kim | Releases 5/2; preorder available

Boulder

Eva Baltasar demonstrates her pre-eminence as a chronicler of queer voices navigating a hostile world — in prose as brittle and beautiful as an ancient saga.  

By Eva Baltasar, translated from the Catalan by Julia Sanches

Standing Heavy

A unique insight into everything that passes under a security guard's gaze, which also serves as a searingly witty deconstruction of colonial legacies and capitalist consumption. 

By GauZ', translated from the French by Frank Wynne (Not Yet Available in the U.S.)