Michał Witkowski's novel Lovetown was included on the longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2011. It was beat out by Orhad Pamuk, Santiago Roncagliolo, Alberto Barrera Tyszka, Per Petterson, Jenny Erpenbeck and Marcelo Figueras in the shortlist announced on April 11, 2011
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is awarded annually to the best work of contemporary fiction in translation. The winning author and translator will be awarded £5,000 each and a limited edition magnum of Champagne Taittinger.
Michał Witkowski's Lubiewo came out in Poland in 2005 stirring a big sensation. Although the book was initially advertised mainly as the first Polish queer novel, it went on to receive much critical acclaim and won many prestigious literary prizes. In 2009 it was translated into English by W. Martin and put out by Portobello Books. The following year Loveland was reviewed and praised in British press (read here).
This year's list features a number of previous Independent Foreign Fiction Prize winners including the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, who won the first-ever Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 1990 alongside translator Victoria Holbrook, for The White Castle; Per Petterson who won the Prize in 2006 for Out Stealing Horses, and former winning translators Anne McLean (2009, 2004) and Frank Wynne (2005).
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize ran previously between 1990 and 1995 and the Prize was revived with the support of Arts Council England in 2001. The £10,000 prize money and associated costs are funded by Arts Council England. The Prize is also supported by the Independent and Champagne Taittinger.
The judges for this year's prize are: Harriett Gilbert, writer, academic and broadcaster; Author, M.J. Hyland; Catriona Kelly, writer and Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford; Novelist and reviewer, Neel Mukherjee; Boyd Tonkin, Literary Editor of the Independent.
Previous winners of the Prize include Milan Kundera in 1991 for Immortality translated by Peter Kussi; W.G. Sebald and translator Anthea Bell in 2002 for Austerlitz, and Paul Verhaegan, who also translated his own work, for Omega Minor in 2008. The 2010 winner was Brodeck's Report by French writer Philippe Claudel, translated from the French by American John Cullen.
Previous Polish novels shortlisted to the Prize include Mercedes Benz (2006) and Castorp (2008) by Paweł Huelle, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, published by Serpent's Tail.
The shortlist of six books was announced on Monday April 11 at the London Book Fair. The overall winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2011 will be announced at an awards ceremony in central London on May 26, 2011 at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Shortlist:
- Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky from the German
- Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne from the Spanish
- The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Maureen Freely from the Turkish
- I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson, translated by Charlotte Barslund with Per Petterson from the Norwegian
- Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish
- The Sickness by Alberto Barrera Tyszka, translated by Margaret Jull Costa from the Spanish
Contenders longlisted for the 2011 prize: -
Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky from the German (Portobello Books) - Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne from the Spanish (Atlantic Books)
- To the End of the Land by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen from Hebrew (Jonathan Cape)
- Fame by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Carol Brown Janeway from the German (Quercus)
- Beside the Sea by Veronique Olmi, translated by Adriana Hunter from the French (Peirene Press)
- The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Maureen Freely from the Turkish (Faber and Faber)
- I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson, translated by Charlotte Barslund with Per Petterson from the Norwegian (Harvill Secker)
- Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish (Atlantic Books)
- Gargling with Tar by Jachym Topol, translated by David Short from the Czech (Portobello Books)
- The Sickness by Alberto Berrera Tyszka, translated by Margaret Jull Costa from the Spanish (Maclehose Press)
- The Secret History of Costaguana by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish (Bloomsbury)
- The Journey of Anders Sparrman by Per Wastberg, translated by Tom Geddes from the Swedish (Granta)
- Lovetown by Michal Witkowski, translated by W Martin from the Polish (Portobello Books)
- Villain by Shuichi Yoshida, translated by Philip Gabriel from the Japanese (Harvill Secker)
- Dark Matter by Juli Zeh, translated by Christine Lo from the German (Harvill Secker)
Source: Polish Cultural Institute in London, www.instytutksiążki.pl