‘Mind-expanding books': International Booker prize shortlist announced
British translator Sophie Hughes has been shortlisted for her translation of Perfection, originally written in Italian by Vincenzo Latronico. This marks the fifth time Hughes has been shortlisted for the prize, making her the award's record holder for the most times shortlisted and longlisted.
On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland (Faber)
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson (Small Axes)
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda (Granta)
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes (Fitzcarraldo)
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi (And Other Stories)
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson (Lolli)
Six author-translator teams are now in contention for the £50,000 prize, the winner of which will be announced on 20 May, with the prize money divided equally between author and translator.
Japanese writer Kawakami, best known for her novel Strange Weather in Tokyo, has been shortlisted for her novel-in-stories Under the Eye of the Big Bird, translated by Asa Yoneda. Danish writer Balle and Scottish translator Barbara J Haveland have been chosen for On the Calculation of Volume I, the first of a planned septology in which the protagonist Tara is stuck in a time loop.
'These mind-expanding books ask what might be in store for us, or how we might mourn, worship or survive', said author and judging chair Max Porter. 'They offer knotty, sometimes pessimistic, sometimes radically hopeful answers to these questions. Taken together they build a miraculous lens through which to view human experience, both the truly disturbing and the achingly beautiful.'
The shortlisted titles are slim, with four coming in at under 200 pages, including Latronico's Perfection. The novel, about a millennial expat couple living in Berlin, 'transcends its satire of 2010s hipsterdom through the depth of Latronico's sociological observations', writes Thomas McMullan in the Guardian. 'This chronicle of contemporary Berlin is strongest in its articulation of how a certain kind of globalisation dislocates us from our surroundings.'
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson, was also selected. The book was written in three weeks, and is based on recordings from a real event in November 2021, when a dinghy carrying migrants from France to the UK capsized in the Channel, causing the death of 27 people on board.
Sign up to Bookmarks
Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you
after newsletter promotion
A book translated from Kannada – a language spoken by tens of millions of people, primarily in the state of Karnataka in southwest India – features on the shortlist for the first time in the prize's history this year: Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi. It contains 12 stories originally published between 1990 and 2023, which capture the daily lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India.
Completing the shortlist is A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson. Serre wrote the book, about a woman with severe psychological disorders, in six months after the suicide of her sister. 'I wanted to create a memorial to her', said Serre.
The other titles longlisted for this year's prize were The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated by Sinan Antoon; There's a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert; Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter; Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary; Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton; Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles; and On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott.
Alongside Porter on this year's judging panel are the poet Caleb Femi, writer and Guardian critic Sana Goyal, author and translator Anton Hur, and musician Beth Orton.
Authors who have previously won the award include Han Kang, Olga Tokarczuk and Lucas Rijneveld. Last year, Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the prize for Kairos.
To explore all of the books on the shortlist for the International Booker prize 2025 visit guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
I've spent £105k on surgery & flew from London to the Dominican Republic for bum implants – but they FELL OUT in the gym
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A SURGERY megafan has opened up on the horrors of her bum implant surgery that led her to spend £63,000 on corrective procedures. Chelsea Robinson Harrison, 29, flew from London to the Dominican Republic in 2019 to increase the appearance of her backside. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 A surgery fan got candid on her bum implants that fell out whilst she was working out in the gym Credit: Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection 7 Chelsea Robinson Harrison, 29, after her first boob job at 18 Credit: Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection 7 Chelsea revealed all on her £105,000 surgery journey to Olivia Attwood Credit: Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection 7 She claimed that a gym workout caushed her bum implants to "come out" Credit: Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection The self-described businesswoman, model, and mother, who has spent £105,000 in total on plastic surgery, decided to have the surgery abroad because she had heard that doctors in the Caribbean country are particularly skilled in the procedure. However, after going under the knife and returning home, Chelsea's dream figure soon turned to a nightmare, when a gym workout caused her bum implants to 'come out'. On a recent ITV episode of Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection, Chelsea explained: 'Six years ago, I went to the Dominican Republic because I heard that they were the best at doing bum implants. 'But then, when I got back from there, I went to the gym. I was squatting in the gym, and I felt something. 'My leg went all tingly, and I felt something come out. My implant was hanging.' Chelsea recalled that her implant had come out from under her muscle and described the experience as 'horrendous'. She added: 'If I knew all the ins and outs, I would have never got the bum implants because that was the worst, absolute worst journey I've ever been through, and it wasn't worth it.' Since then, Chelsea has spent £63,000 on corrective procedures to fix the issue. But while the procedure put Chelsea off of bum implant surgery, she has by no means been deterred from undergoing other procedures. In the latest episode of Olivia Attwood's docuseries, Chelsea joined the Love Island legend as she underwent her fourth boob job for just shy of £8,000, which saw her receive two implants weighing almost 1kg each. Moment Olivia Attwood gasps 'oh my god' as Price Of Perfection star reveals incredible before and after surgery pics after £250k makeover Opening up on her journey into plastic surgery, Chelsea acknowledged: 'I was quite eager and as soon as I turned 18, I was booked straight away to get my boobs done.' When looking at old photographs of herself before getting breast implants, Chelsea sighed: 'I look so ugly there. There's just no definition anywhere, there's no boobs, there's no bum.' What are the risks of getting surgery abroad? IT'S important to do your research if you're thinking about having cosmetic surgery abroad. It can cost less than in the UK, but you need to weigh up potential savings against the potential risks. Safety standards in different countries may not be as high. No surgery is risk-free. Complications can happen after surgery in the UK or abroad. If you have complications after an operation in the UK, the surgeon is responsible for providing follow-up treatment. Overseas clinics may not provide follow-up treatment, or they may not provide it to the same standard as in the UK. Also, they may not have a healthcare professional in the UK you can visit if you have any problems. Source: NHS It was Chelsea's career as a glamour model that led her to compare herself to others in the industry, which made her feel her chest wasn't big enough to compete with her colleagues. She admitted: 'I kind of fell into lingerie modelling, but I felt like I wasn't competing with the other glamour models that I was seeing. 'I had no boobs, I had like an A-cup, so I wanted to look like everyone else.' There's always something else you need, you want, or something that could make you look better Chelsea Robinson Harrison Following this, she soon went on to have two additional breast implants before her most recent one, in a bid to get a 'fuller' and 'bigger' result. Chelsea said: 'All in all, I've definitely spent over £100,000, probably £105,000. It's been eleven years, and a pricey eleven years.' Chelsea's implants are the largest available at the London-based clinic that Chelsea visited, as she explained: 'It's a lot if you think about carrying two of those around.' Despite the struggles, Chelsea concluded: 'There's always something else you need, you want, or something that could make you look better. 'It's almost like adrenaline, and I feel like that's what you're chasing as well.' Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection is now available to stream on ITVX. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club 7 Chelsea recently underwent her fourth boob job Credit: Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection 7 She has spent £63,000 on corrective procedures to fix her bum implants Credit: Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection
Telegraph
11-07-2025
- Telegraph
What makes the perfect pub, according to our writers
What makes a perfect pub? Other people, mostly. After half a lifetime searching for pub perfection, I've spent the last few months travelling around the country filling the gaps in my knowledge and compiling my guide to the 500 Best Pubs in England. What sticks in the memory from this period are the people I've chatted to, or simply observed, along the way. The middle-aged biker taking a first sip of ale at the Old Spot in Dursley, Gloucestershire, and sighing with theatrical contentment; the couple celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary at the Soar Bridge Inn in Leicestershire with food so simple and appealing (beef pie for him; ham, egg and chips for her) I decided to order the latter; and the young woman who, witnessing a friend trying to leave Newcastle 's buzzing Free Trade Inn on a sunny Sunday evening, exclaimed with genuine disbelief: 'Are you going home?!' When I see others enjoying themselves, I know I'm on to a good thing. Human pleasure is the essence of pubs – and in really great pubs, such pleasure is pervasive. You could, I suppose, say the same for restaurants, but pubs have a crucial advantage: bar service. This tradition, jettisoned (mercifully briefly) during Covid-19, gives pubs their feeling of freedom. You can move around, choose your own seat, chat to strangers, or just sit quietly with a pint and a paper (or, more likely in this day and age, your phone). In the best pubs, there are few rules. This is the main reason pub food is so divisive. It cuts straight across this sense of freedom. When food is an addition to a pub's offer – Camilla Tominey, one of seven Telegraph experts who opine on what makes the perfect pub in the video above, is right that simple is generally best – it's very welcome (although I prefer pubs that don't smell of chips). But when it means a huge chunk of the pub is entirely reserved for diners, laid up with knives and forks and napkins, then the magic is gone. And pubs can be magic, particularly when they have a historic interior. George Orwell's famous essay, The Moon Under Water, suggested London pubs should be Victorian in character – late Victorian, presumably, since that's when most were (re-)constructed. But in the countryside, something that feels a little older is better. I'll never forget wandering into the gorgeous Holly Bush Inn in Makeney after a long day yomping through the Peak District, or the pint of bitter I enjoyed with a Stilton sandwich in the 18th-century Bridge Inn in Topsham, Devon. Both are contenders for England's most appealing pub, but that's only part of their appeal. They also do the simple things right – most crucially, beer. At the Holly Bush Inn, I drank a beautifully conditioned pint of Makeney, brewed especially for the pub by Thornbridge in Bakewell. (Not everyone likes cask ale, but when it comes to assessing a pub's commitment to quality, you can't beat it.) Beer also establishes a sense of place. Alongside accents, traditions, pub games, decorations and a host of more intangible details, it's how a pub's local character is expressed. When you're in Cornwall, for example, you want to visit a genuinely Cornish pub – although most don't go as far as the New Inn in Tywardreath, which has a huge Cornish flag covering one wall. It also has plenty of outdoor space, something many cherish. I prefer a cool interior on truly hot days. I agree with the Telegraph's cartoonist, Matt Pritchett, who says he and his father seek out pubs with good beer gardens so that they can have the inside to themselves. When I visited the Square & Compass in Dorset a few weeks ago, the garden was packed, but the flagstone-floored Tap Room was all mine. The best pubs, then, can be solitary pleasures as well as places of communal enjoyment – but without someone competent in charge, they're rarely either. The landlady (or landlord) sets the tone, ensuring everything is as it should be. Perfect pubs are about people, and the people who run them are most vital of all. What are the ingredients for your perfect pub? Please let us know in the comments section below...
BBC News
09-07-2025
- BBC News
BBC Audio Rebel writer: the Indian author who questioned everything
Indian writer Banu Mushtaq made history in May when she won the International Booker prize for Heart Lamp, a collection of short stories translated from the Kannada language. Not only was this the first short story collection to win the coveted prize, but Banu was the first author writing in Kannada to win, she shared the prize with her translator Deepa Bhasthi. Banu has been breaking stereotypes her whole life. Growing up in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, she was the first girl in her area to learn Kannada in school - a language that, at the time, was taught only to boys. She then chose college over an early marriage, and when she did finally marry, at the age of 26, it was for love, to a man of her choosing, rather than an arranged marriage. Although the early years of marriage were difficult for Banu and she stopped writing, she eventually returned to her passion, combining it with being a reporter, then an activist and eventually a lawyer. She tells Asya Fouks why she's never been afraid to stand up for what she believes in and why she's brought up her three daughters to question everything. This programme contains references to suicide. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: June Christie Get in touch: outlook@ or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Banu Mushtaq, winner of the International Booker prize 2025. Credit:)
