Samanta Schweblin: ‘In fiction we try not to talk about technology’ Kathryn Bromwich
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1978, Samanta Schweblin is the author of three short story collections, and in 2010 was chosen by Granta as one of the best writers in Spanish under 35. Her debut novel,
Fever Dream (2014, translated by Megan McDowell in 2017), won the Shirley Jackson award for best novella and was shortlisted for the Booker International prize. Schweblin’s second novel,
Little Eyes, out now in paperback, imagines a reality in which people keep “kentuki” – small, animal-shaped devices with cameras for eyes, controlled by an unknown user somewhere across the globe. She lives in Berlin.
Samanta Schweblin: In fiction we try not to talk about technology
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International Booker Prize Announces Its 2021 Shortlist
Of the six authors shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize, four are published in English for the first time.
Image: Booker Foundation
Hughes-Hallett: ‘So Many Different Modes’
You may notice collisions of news from major publishing and book awards at the moment. It’s one of those times of the year when the winners’ announcements, shortlists, longlists, and jury roll-outs all run into each other like tightly smiling competitive guests at a cocktail party, everyone jostling for attention.
And in a news conference prior to the 5 p.m. BST release of the shortlist, organizers of the prize were particularly outspoken about what fresh, challenging books the jury has read in getting to this point, stressing that the shortlisted authors and translators are working in fiction that stretches expectations in frequently arresting ways.
At Night All Blood Is Black, David Diop, translated by Anna Mocschovakis (Pushkin)
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, Mariana Enríquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Granta)
When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Pushkin)
The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century, Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken (Lolli)
The award is given “every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.” The £50,000 prize is divided equally among the author and translator(s). Shortlisted authors and translators will each receive £1,000. Judges for 2021 are Aida Edemariam, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Neel Mukherjee, Olivette Otele, and George Szirtes. The winner will be announced on June 2, 2021.
Booker International shortlist spans not just globe but outer space Books on six-strong shortlist for £50,000 prize set in Europe, Latin America and space
about an hour ago
As one might expect from a prize with a global reach, the six-strong shortlist for this year’s Booker International Prize for fiction contains multitudes and dazzles with its variety, translated into English from Danish, French, Spanish and Russian.
Two are short story collections, one terrifying tales of magic realism set in contemporary Argentina, the other accounts of defining moments from the history of science. The novels tell of two Senegalese soldiers fighting for France during the first World War; the lives of the crew on a space ship in the 22nd century; an exploration of cultural and personal memory, based on the author’s Jewish family history in Russia; and a tale of rebellion against power and privilege set during the Reformation but inspired by today’s Gilets Jaunes protests.
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