IFFP 2015 – Longlist Predictions

The announcement of the longlist for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is just a matter of weeks away, and here at Tony’s Reading List, we’ve been working hard to clear the decks in anticipation of a busy couple of months ahead.  Before we look to the future, though, it’s time to take some time to consider the past.  While second-guessing the fine people on the official panel is a fool’s game, we on the Shadow Panel take it upon ourselves every year to give it a go anyway (let’s not think think too hard  about what that says about us…).  With that in mind, today’s post sees some predictions as to books that may or may not be mentioned when the official list appears (all links are to my reviews).  Never let it be said that I’m not prepared to stick my head out 😉

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First up, I’m tipping another longlisting for an old favourite, Andrés Neuman.  This year saw Pushkin Press release two more of his books in English, both translated by the team of Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia: the short, three-voiced novel Talking to Ourselves, and the superb short-story anthology The Things We Don’t Do.  I’d be very surprised if Neuman’s name wasn’t on the list; however, with each writer only being allowed one submission (as far as I’m aware), I’m not really sure which of the two Pushkin will submit for consideration.  While I preferred the short stories, I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be the novel(la) which will get the nod…

Another old favourite (the publisher, not the writer) is, of course, Peirene Press, and the Nymph will be looking to maintain her perfect record of one longlisted title for each year of the company’s history.  I’ve only read one of last year’s series, but Hanne Ørstavik’s The Blue Room (translated by Deborah Dawkin) has all the hallmarks of another success, even if matching the 2014 special mention achieved by The Mussel Feast might just be beyond its reach.

2015 could also be the year where Gallic Books, a small publisher focusing on works in French, makes the list.  I read (and enjoyed) two of their offerings this year, Nagasaki by Éric Faye (tr. Emily Boyce) and Michel Déon’s The Foundling Boy (tr. Julian Evans).  Unfortunately, The Foundling Boy was published at the end of 2013, and is thus ineligible for this year’s prize, but the sequel (The Foundling’s War, which I haven’t yet read) might be a chance  Perhaps, though, the brevity of Nagasaki will appeal to the over-worked judges 😉

Next up, we have two big names from Scandinavia who have a good chance of making it onto the longlist this year.  The third instalment of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle series, Boyhood Island (Harvill Secker), may not have been the best of the three so far, but it should make the cut (although I wouldn’t really expect to see it go any further).  Per Petterson, of course, has already tasted IFFP success (back in 2006 with Out Stealing Horses), and I Refuse (Harvill Secker), my first taste of his work, has a good chance of doing well this year.  The translator for both, by the way, is Don Bartlett 🙂

Finally, two big names of translated fiction could well be on the longlist this year.  Haruki Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage (tr. Philip Gabriel, Harvill Secker) was a welcome return to form, and if 1Q84 was able to make the longlist, this one should be a certainty 😉  On the other hand, Elena Ferrante’s The Story of a New Name was a frankly shocking omission from last year’s selection.  I don’t think Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (tr. Ann Goldstein) is as good as the first two novels in the series, but there’s every chance that Europa Editions will have something to cheer about this time around.

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Of course, eligibility is always an important factor in these decisions, and there were a few great books published last year which won’t be chosen.  One of my favourite reads of 2014 was Liveforever by Andrés Caicedo (tr. Frank Wynne) – sadly, books by deceased writers are ineligible, even for a first translation, so this one is out.  Shin Kyung-sook’s I’ll Be Right There (tr. Sora Kim-Russell) did a great job of redeeming the writer (in my eyes) after the frankly awful English-language version of Please Look After Mother, but I’m unaware of any UK edition of the new book.  The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck (tr. Susan Bernofsky) does have a UK release slated, but not until February – perhaps this is one for next year 😉

Finally, I’ll look at four books which might be considered, if they are eligible – and it’s a big if…  Paris by Marcos Giralt Torrente (tr. Margaret Jull Costa) was one of my top few books of the year, but are Madrid-based publishers Hispabooks entitled to enter it for the IFFP?  Another one of my top-five books for 2014 was Matthias Énard’s excellent novel Zone – however, Fitzcarraldo Editions’ first work in translation was published a few years back in the US by Open Letter Books…

Finally, Pavane for a Dead Princess by Park Min-gyu (tr. Amber Hyun Jung Kim) and Haïlji’s The Republic of Užupis (tr. Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton), two of the latest Dalkey Archive Press offerings, are both books I think could be in with a shout of selection.  The big question here is whether Dalkey actually bother entering the IFFP – while the American Best Translated Book Award considers everything out there, in the UK it’s very much an opt-in system…

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So, there you have it – a selection of books that might, can’t and probably won’t be on the longlist 😉  Before anyone starts complaining about obvious omissions, this collection is limited to books I’ve actually read, so I’m fully aware that there are plenty of others out there which could make the grade.  Please come back when the official list has been published to see how well (or badly) I’ve fared in my predictions…