And the (Shadow) IBP 2024 Winner Is…

Well, it’s been a long and winding road, taking us to many corners of the literary globe, but the end is finally in sight.  Later today (UK time) will see the announcement of the winner of this year’s International Booker Prize, with the official judges selecting best in class from their final six.

However, as is the case every year, we on the Shadow Panel will be beating them to the punch, so to speak, as we’ve already chosen our winner and are ready to declare it to the world.  We may not have a big lump of glass (or a novelty cheque) to bestow upon the winners, but we like to think that our approval is just as important as that of the official judges (I’ll leave it for you to decide whether that view is laudable or deluded…).

At any rate, the scores are in, the rankings have been finalised, and we’re ready to let you all know how our deliberations went – so, without further ado:

THE WINNER OF THE 2024 SHADOW INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE IS:

Selva Almada’s Not a River
(Charco Press, translated by Annie McDermott)

Almada’s moody tale of three men, two women and a whole lot of trouble was one of our top contenders from the very start, and it managed to outlast the competition to take out our prize.  This one’s yet another little gem from Charco Press, and it’s now over to the official judges to see if they share our opinion…

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Of course, we traditionally like to hand out some more gold stars at this point, and this year is no exception.  We also have a couple of Honourable Mentions for 2024:

Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos
(Granta Books, translated by Michael Hofmann)

This one was my personal favourite and, in my view, Erpenbeck’s best book so far.  Both a story of a twisted love affair and a look at how a country is swallowed up by history, Kairos is enthralling and often quite vicious, which makes for excellent reading.

Urszula Honek’s White Nights
(MTO Press, translated by Kate Webster)

To be honest, there were few pleasant surprises on this year’s longlist, but Honek’s collection of linked short stories certainly fits that bill.  With a rather loose approach to chronological order, White Nights might challenge some readers to work out just what’s going on, but it’s a book that rewards careful reading, and rereading, and it’s a shame the official judges cut it adrift after the longlist stage…

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As has been the case for a while now, we used our “Eurovision” voting system to choose our winner, with each judge ranking the six five books on the Shadow Shortlist (*not* the official one) and awarding them points.  This time around, there were eight points for our favourite, five for the next best, then three, two and one.  Ten judges voted, meaning each book could achieve a maximum of eighty points and a minimum of ten points – and this is how the voting went:

                                  1st) Not a River (56 points)
                                  2nd) Kairos (51 points)
                                  3rd) White Nights (40 points)
                                  4th) The Details (22 points)
                                  5th) The House on Via Gemito (21 points)                                  

That five-point gap between first and second is rather deceptive, mind – you see, if just one of the several judges who had Almada’s book edging out Kairos had changed their mind, it would have been Erpenbeck taking home the prize, and the glory…

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Well, that’s all from us for this year, but there’s still the small matter (for those interested) of the actual winner announcement.  As mentioned, that’s happening later today, probably at a time when we in Australia will be fast asleep, so I look forward to waking up tomorrow and finding out just who the official judges have gone for.  Will I be happy, or will it be a very rude awakening for this shadow judge?  I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow 😉