2014 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Shortlist

Today the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award announced the ten Shortlisted novels for the 2014 Prize. The Award claims it is “the world’s most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English”, and with 100,000 euros to the winner it’s not one to be sneezed at.

This year there are five works in translation and quite a number I have previously reviewed here (links to reviews in the list).

The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker – The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize winner of 2013 - A bleak tale that is grey and misty throughout, dire and dank as well as disturbing in its use of language and setting.

Questions of Travel by Michelle De Krester – The 2013 Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner

Absolution by Patrick Flanery – Winner of the Spear’s/Laurent Perrier Best First Book Award in 2012

A Death in The Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard – Longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2013. A massive success in the homelands of Norway, media reports stating that over 450,000 copies of this work have been sold in Norway, a place of 10 million inhabitants – close to one in 20 people owing a copy!!!.

Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye – Winner of the Prix Goncourt 2009

The Traveller of the Century by Andres Neuman – Shortlisted for the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. A complex novel exploring history, metaphysics, death, language, translation, the sense of belonging, literary criticism and more.

The Light of Amsterdam by David Park

The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan – Long Listed for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Donal Ryan has painted a vivid picture of Ireland in decay, a generation of ordinary people struggling to make sense of their existence.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng – Winner of the Man Asia Literary Prize and shorlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize. This is a multi layered novel one that slowly encompasses “the art of setting stones” and a miniature view of a much broader landscape.

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez – Long listed for the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

The last two years I have found a number of books on the shortlist to be disappointing so I had vowed to skip this year’s list, however there are only five I haven’t previously reviewed and I do own two of them – maybe I’ll get to the list after all.

For more details of the shortlist go to http://www.impacdublinaward.ie/news/ten-books-shortlisted-for-the-2014-award/