This award is special for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the award of 100.000 euros. The nominations come from libraries rather than professional judges. Those libraries span the globe. And the award is open to (almost, there is a time restriction) all novels of high literary merit written in the English language, or written in any other language and published in English translation. The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind. This year's edition features 162 novels. The shortlist will be made public on 12th April 2011 and the Lord Mayor of Dublin will announce the winner on 15th June. In 2010 Gerbrand Bakker won the award with his acclaimed novel The twin.
The English edition of On Black Sisters' Street is published by Vintage (the Dutch edition was published by Meulenhoff/Manteau in 2007). On Black Sisters' Street was hailed by The Guardian and The Dailiy Telegraph as one of this years' best novels.
Chika Unigwe's new novel, Nachtdanser (Night Dancer), will be released in January 2011. Night Dancer is set in Nigeria, a fascinating country and one of the most rapidly growing economies in the world. Tradition and progress stand face to face. All those contradictions meet in the big city of Enugu. The young girl, Mma, an orphan, is trying to make her way through life, which has not been merciful with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment