On Monday 11th March, the longlist for the International Booker Prize was announced. This is the world's most significant award for a single work of translated fiction and this year's longlist signals a second "boom" in Latin American fiction with a quarter of the list written by South American authors. 

Although some of the authors and their books may be unfamiliar to English-speaking readers, many of the authors who have been longlisted for the International Booker are considered to be their respective countries' greatest living writers. This goes to show how important awards like the International Booker Prize are, in celebrating writers from around the world and broadening the horizons of English-speaking readers. Each year, the International Booker Prize introduces readers to the best novels and short story collections from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.

This prize recognises the vital work of translators and the £50,000 prize money is divided equally: with £25,000 going to the author and £25,000 awarded to the translator. There is also a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles. 

This year, the 13 books in the longlist have been selected by a panel of judges chaired by broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Wachtel. The judges include award winning poet Natalie Diaz; Romesh Gunesekera, internationally acclaimed novelist; writer, editor and translator Aaron Robertson; and groundbreaking visual artist William Kentridge.

149 books were submitted by publishers to be considered for this year's International Booker Prize, which is the highest number of submissions since the prize was relaunched in its current format in 2016. A variety of themes and fictional forms are represented in this year's longlist, with a number of books highlighting the struggles of individuals and minorities in the face of oppression and the stories ranging from magical realism to allegory.

Find the full International Booker Prize 2024 longlist here:

Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott

Simpatía by Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, translated by Noel Hernández González, Daniel Hahn 

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann

The Details by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson

White Nights by Urszula Honek, translated by Kate Webster

Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell, Youngjae Josephine Bae

A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson

The Silver Bone: The Kyiv Mysteries by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk

What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey

Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo, translated by Leah Janeczko

The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone, Translated by Oonagh Stransky

Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior, translated by Johnny Lorenz

Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Julia Sanches

The shortlist, to be announced on the 9th April, will whittle these 13 books down to just six. The announcement of the winning books for 2024 will take place on Tuesday 21st May at a ceremony in London.

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