At time of writing (March 2021), we’re in the process of assembling our Shadow Panel for this year’s International Booker Prize, and it just occurred to me that this actually marks the tenth time we’ve shadowed the premier UK prize for fiction in translation (in its various iterations). To mark the occasion, I’ve finally got around to creating a page I’ve been meaning to put up for a while, bringing together all the important information from the history of the Shadow Panel.
Below, you’ll see each year’s highlights, including the name of the prize, the make-up of that year’s Shadow Panel, the official and Shadow winners (where they differ) and also, for some years, the Shadow Panel’s honourable mentions (links are to my reviews). I’ll be updating this once this year’s prizes are awarded, and hopefully in future years, too. I hope you find this useful/enjoyable – if you spot any errors, please let me know, and I’ll endeavour to fix them 🙂
*****
2023 International Booker Prize
Shadow Panel:
Tony Malone (Chair)
Stu Allen
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Oisin Harris
Frances Evangelista
Paul Fulcher
Jeremy Koenig
Areeb Ahmad
Vivek Tejuja
Official Winner:
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov
(Angela Rodel: Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Shadow Winner:
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan
(Chi-Young Kim: Europa Editions)
Honourable Mention:
While We Were Dreaming by Clemens Meyer
(Katy Derbyshire: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
*****
2022 International Booker Prize
Shadow Panel:
Tony Malone (Chair)
Stu Allen
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Vivek Tejuja
Oisin Harris
Frances Evangelista
Paul Fulcher
Areeb Ahmad
Official Winner:
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
(Daisy Rockwell: Tilted Axis Press)
Shadow Winner:
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
(Anton Hur: Honford Star)
Honourable Mentions:
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
(Daisy Rockwell: Tilted Axis Press)
Septology by Jon Fosse
(Damion Searls: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
*****
2021 International Booker Prize
Shadow Panel:
Tony Malone (Chair)
Stu Allen
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Vivek Tejuja
Oisin Harris
Frances Evangelista
Barbara Halla
Areeb Ahmad
Official Winner:
At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop
(Anna Moschovakis: Pushkin Press)
Shadow Winner:
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
(Elisabeth Jaquette: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Honourable Mention:
In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova
(Sasha Dugdale: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
*****
2020 International Booker Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Vivek Tejuja
Paul Fulcher
Oisin Harris
Frances Evangelista
Antonomasia
Barbara Halla
Official Winner:
The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
(Michele Hutchison: Faber & Faber)
Shadow Winner:
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
(Sophie Hughes: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Honourable Mentions:
The Other Name: Septology I-II by Jon Fosse
(Damion Searls: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
(Anonymous: Europa Editions)
*****
2019 Man Booker International Prize
Shadow Panel:
Tony Malone (Chair)
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Emma Cazabonne
Vivek Tejuja
Paul Fulcher
Naomi Morauf
Oisin Harris
Frances Evangelista
Antonomasia
Barbara Halla
Official Winner:
Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
(Marilyn Booth: Sandstone Press)
Shadow Winner:
The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
(Anne McLean: MacLehose Press)
Honourable Mentions:
The Years by Annie Ernaux
(Alison Strayer: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
The Faculty of Dreams by Sara Stridsberg
(Deborah Bragan-Turner: MacLehose Press)
*****
2018 Man Booker International Prize
Shadow Panel:
Tony Malone (Chair)
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Lori Feathers
Vivek Tejuja
Paul Fulcher
Naomi Morauf
Oisin Harris
Frances Evangelista
Official Winner:
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
(Jennifer Croft: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Shadow Winner:
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
(Jennifer Croft: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
*****
2017 Man Booker International Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
Tony Malone
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Tony Messenger
Grant Rintoul
Clare Rowland
Lori Feathers
Official Winner:
A Horse Walked into a Bar by David Grossman
(Jessica Cohen: Jonathan Cape)
Shadow Winner:
Compass by Mathias Énard
(Charlotte Mandell: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Honourable Mention:
The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen
(Don Bartlett & Don Shaw: MacLehose Press)
*****
2016 Man Booker International Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
Tony Malone
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Tony Messenger
Grant Rintoul
Clare Rowland
Lori Feathers
Official Winner:
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
(Deborah Smith: Portobello/Granta Books)
Shadow Winner:
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
(Deborah Smith: Portobello/Granta Books)
Honourable Mention:
Death by Water by Kenzaburō Ōe
(Deborah Boliver Boehm: Atlantic Books)
*****
2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
Tony Malone
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Tony Messenger
Grant Rintoul
Clare Rowland
Emma Cazabonne
Julianne Pachico
Chelsea McGill
Joe Schreiber
Official Winner:
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
(Susan Bernofsky: Portobello/Granta Books)
Shadow Winner:
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
(Susan Bernofsky: Portobello/Granta Books)
Honourable Mention:
Zone by Mathias Énard (Note: called in by the Shadow Panel)
(Charlotte Mandell: Fitzcarraldo Editions)
*****
2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
Tony Malone
David Hebblethwaite
Bellezza
Tony Messenger
Jacqui Patience
Official Winner:
The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim
(Jonathan Wright: Comma Press)
Shadow Winner:
The Sorrow of Angels by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
(Philip Roughton: MacLehose Press)
*****
2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
Tony Malone
Mark Stanforth
Gary Moon
Lisa Hill
Official Winner:
The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker
(David Colmer: Harvill Secker)
Shadow Winner:
Dublinesque by Enrique Vila-Matas
(Rosalind Harvey & Anne McLean: Harvill Secker)
Honourable Mention:
Satantango by László Krasznahorkai
(George Szirtes: Tuskar Rock Press)
*****
2012 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
Shadow Panel:
Stu Allen (Chair)
Tony Malone
Mark Stanforth
Gary Moon
Lisa Hill
Rob Burdock
Simon Quicke
Official Winner:
Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld
(translated by Jeffrey M. Green: Alma Books)
Shadow Winner:
From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón
(Victoria Cribb: Telegram Books)
*****
One last area of interest to leave you with – the performance of various publishers in our years of perusing the longlists (correct up to the 2023 IBP):
Presses – Shadow Winners:
Fitzcarraldo Editions (4)
MacLehose Press (2)
Portobello/Granta Books (2)
Tilted Axis Press
Telegram Books
Harvill Secker
Europa Editions
Presses – Honourable Mentions:
Fitzcarraldo Editions (6)
MacLehose Press (2)
Honford Star
Tuskar Rock Press
Atlantic Books
Europa Editions
Tony's Reading List 