The English translation of Olga Tokarczuk's "Flights" is among ten candidates for the 2018 National Book Award. For the first time in history of this one of the most important American literary awards, a book translated into English will receive the prize.
This is one of the most popular books by Olga Tokarczuk and has won her the Nike Award, known as the Polish Booker in 2008. "Flights" ("Bieguni" - original Polish title) have been translated into English by Jennifer Croft and published in the UK by Fitzcarraldo Edition. The novel won the Man Booker International Prize in 2018, marking the first time a Polish author received the award. Croft's translation has been published in the USA by Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House.
"Flights" is a literary rumination on the phenomenon of movement, travel and restlessness of travellers. According to the author, travelling is a contemporary method of satisfying an ancient, atavistic, nomadic drive. The book isn't centered around any particular person or story, but rather around the phenomenon of travelling. The title refers to an old Russian sect from the 18th century, whose members claimed that the world was created by Satan, who has the best access to people, once they stop moving. In order to to escape the devil, we must constantly travel. Tokarczuk writes about meeting the present-day flights, the last few members of the sect, who constantly travel around by Moscow's subway.
The list of candidates for the newly established international category of the National Book Award was announced by "The New Yorker" on Wednesday.
The National Book Awards were established in 1936 by the American Booksellers Association,abandoned during World War II, and re-established by three book industry organizations in 1950.
Non-U.S. authors and publishers were eligible for the pre-war awards. Now they are presented to U.S. authors for books published in the United States roughly during the award year.
A list of finalists will be announced on 10 October. The 69th award ceremony will take place on 14 November in New York.
The full list is below:
Négar Djavadi, "Disoriental"
Translated by Tina Kover
Europa Editions
Roque Larraquy, "Comemadre"
Translated by Heather Cleary
Coffee House Press
Dunya Mikhail, "The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq"
Translated by Max Weiss and Dunya Mikhail
New Directions Publishing
Perumal Murugan, "One Part Woman"
Translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan
Black Cat / Grove Atlantic
Hanne Ørstavik, "Love"
Translated by Martin Aitken
Archipelago Books
Gunnhild Øyehaug, "Wait, Blink: A Perfect Picture of Inner Life"
Translated by Kari Dickson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers
Domenico Starnone, "Trick"
Translated by Jhumpa Lahiri
Europa Editions
Yoko Tawada, "The Emissary"
Translated by Margaret Mitsutani
New Directions Publishing
Olga Tokarczuk, "Flights"
Translated by Jennifer Croft
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House
Tatyana Tolstaya, "Aetherial Worlds"
Translated by Anya Migdal
Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House
Książka "Bieguni" została w 2008 roku uhonorowana polską nagrodą Nike. W Wielkiej Brytanii została wydana pod tytułem "Flights" przez wydawnictwo Fitzcarraldo Editions, a autorką tłumaczenia jest Jennifer Croft. Ta wersja przyniosła Tokarczuk Międzynarodową Nagrodę Bookera w maju bieżącego roku. Tłumaczenie Croft w USA wydane zostało w tym roku nakładem Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House. (http://www.tvn24.pl)
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, The New Yorker