April 15, 2021, 10:02 am
Francesca Wade has made the longlist of this year’s Royal Society of Literature (RSL) Ondaatje Prize for her book Square Haunting (Ondaatje Prize/PA)
Sign up for our daily newsletter featuring the top stories from The Press and Journal.
Thank you for signing up to The Press and Journal newsletter.
Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up
The 13-book longlist for this year’s Royal Society of Literature (RSL) Ondaatje Prize has been unveiled.
The £10,000 prize is awarded to an outstanding work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that “best evokes the spirit of a place,” according to organisers.
By Prisca Sam-Duru
Africa’s literary colossus, Professor Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, made history on Tuesday, when he was longlisted among twelve other authors for the 2021 International Booker Prize, as both author and translator of the same book, ‘The Perfect Nine’, as well as the first nominee writing in an indigenous African Language.
With his nomination, Prof Wa Thiong’o, an 83-year-old renowned author of “Weep Not Child”, becomes the first nominee writing in an indigenous African language. A perennial Nobel Prize favourite, the Africa’s literary giant is among 13 authors nominated for the award for best translated fiction, a £50,000 prize split evenly between author and translator.
Ngugi Wa Thiong o, 12 others for Int l Booker Prize vanguardngr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vanguardngr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The 2021 International Booker Prize longlist announced
By
The judges of the 2021 International Booker Prize reveal the 13 novels longlisted for the prestigious award which celebrates the finest translated fiction from around the world
The longlist was selected by the 2021 judging panel consisting of cultural historian and novelist, Lucy Hughes-Hallett (chair); journalist and writer, Aida Edemariam; Man Booker shortlisted novelist, Neel Mukherjee; Professor of the History of Slavery, Olivette Otele; and poet, translator and biographer, George Szirtes. This year the judges considered 125 books.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett says,
In a year when we could scarcely leave our own houses, we judges have been crossing continents, transported by our reading. Every book we’ve read is unique. However a theme does emerge – migration, the pain of it, but also the fruitful interconnectedness of the modern world.
2021 International Booker Prize longlist announced independent.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from independent.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.