Alert! Six African writers have been named on the longlist for the 2015 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English.
The longlist, which was announced yesterday, consists of 142 books, 29 of which are first novels.
This year’s African contingent comprises: JM Coetzee (The Childhood of Jesus), NoViolet Bulawayo (We Need New Names), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Americanah), Moroccan author Mahi Binebine (Horses of God), Taiye Selasi (Ghana Must Go) and Mia Couto (The Tuner of Silences), who has already won the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature this year.
The shortlist will be announced in April.
Other notable names on the list include Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Dave Eggers, this year’s Man Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan, Neil Gaiman, Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling), Elizabeth Gilbert, Khaled Hosseini, Stephen King, Karl Ove Knausgaard, 2013 National Book Award-winner James McBride, Jodi Picoult, Thomas Pynchon, 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winner Donna Tartt and Tim Winton.
Nominees for the IMPAC Dublin Award are made by libraries in major cities throughout the world. Over 400 libraries in 177 countries participate, with each nominating up to three novels they believe are of “high literary merit”. The winner receives €100,000 (+/- R1.4 million).
No South African has yet won the award, although in 2010 there was strong local representation on the longlist – Thando Mgqolozana, Jacques Pauw, Mark Behr, JM Coetzee, Zakes Mda, Gill Schierhout and Marie Heese – while JM Coetzee was shortlisted in 2007, Damon Galgut and Diane Awerbuck shortlisted in 2005, and Andre Brink shortlisted in 1998.
Book details
- The Childhood of Jesus by JM Coetzee
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EAN: 9780099581536
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- We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
EAN: 9780099581888
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- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
EAN: 9780007356348
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- Horses of God by Mahi Binebine
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EAN: 9781847085139
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- The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto
EAN: 9781926845951
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- Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
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EAN: 9780670919888
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Image courtesy of International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award