Geetanjali Shree wins International Booker Prize 2022
Her book "Tomb of Sand" is the first book in any Indian language to clinch the prize, which honors international translated fiction. She was picked from a shortlist that included five women authors.
'Extraordinarily exuberant and incredibly playful book'
Translated by US-based painter and translator Daisy Rockwell (left), "Tomb of Sand" tells the story of an 80-year-old living in northern India who decides to travel to Pakistan and revisit the ghosts of the trauma following India and Pakistan's partition in 1947. The roughly €59,000 ($63,000) prize money will be split between New Delhi-based Shree and Rockwell, who lives in Vermont.
'The Books of Jacob' by Olga Tokarczuk
Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk previously won the Man International Booker Prize in 2018 for her novel "Flights." This year, "The Books of Jacob" has been chosen by the jury and tells the story of Jacob Frank, a Jew who travels through Europe during the Age of Enlightenment, converting to Islam and Catholicism, and who is at times derided as a charlatan but also revered as a Messiah.
'Heaven' by Mieko Kawakami
Japanese author Mieko Kawakami’s book tells the story of a 14-year-old boy who faces bullying but is resigned to his fate. Translated by Sam Bett, the book is a "haunting novel of violence that can stalk our teenage years."
'Elena Knows' by Claudia Pineiro
Argentinian Claudia Pineiro's book has been translated by Frances Riddle and tells the story of a murder victim whose mother undertakes the search for her daughter's killer after officials close the case. Booker organizers say the novel "unravels the secrets of its characters and the hidden facets of authoritarianism and hypocrisy in our society."
'A New Name: Septology VI-VII' by Jon Fosse
The only man on the short list, Fosse explores "the human condition and a radically 'other' reading experience — incantatory, hypnotic and utterly unique," the Booker website says. The series tells the story of Asle, an aging painter who lives on the coast of Norway and his doppelganger. The books have been translated by Damion Searls.
'Cursed Bunny' by Bora Chung
The Korean author has been writing novels and short stories for some time, and "Cursed Bunny," also a collection of short stories, defies genres and mainstream ideas of storytelling. "These are stories about survival that reveal the evils of survival at the expense of another person and often lead to vicious consequences," a user wrote on the readers platform Goodreads.