Top picks in international literature, now available in English translation

Three Percent, a resource for international literature based at the University of Rochester, USA, has announced its 25-title fiction longlist for the 2009 Best Translated Book Award. Authors from 23 different countries writing in 17 different languages made this year's list, giving the curious reader an excellent reference for finding new literary material.

In order to be considered, books must have been published in the United States in English translation between December 1, 2008 and November 30, 2009. Books are evaluated not only for the caliber of their translations, but for the work as a whole.

Well-known authors on the 2009 longlist include Robert Walser (Austria) and Roberto Bolaño (Chile); lesser-known selections include works by Wolf Haas (Austria), Ferenc Barnas (Hungary), and Cao Naiqian (China). The list covers broad geographic territory, with works from Egypt, Djibouti, Brazil, the Netherlands, Argentina, and Lithuania.

Beginning January 11, the Three Percent website will highlight one title from the longlist every day until February 16, when finalists will be announced for both poetry and fiction.


2010 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist:

Ghosts by César Aira (Argentina)
Translated from Spanish by Chris Andrews
(New Directions)

The Ninth by Ferenc Barnás (Hungary)
Translated from Hungarian by Paul Olchváry
(Northwestern University Press)

Anonymous Celebrity by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão (Brazil)
Translated from Portuguese by Nelson Vieira
(Dalkey Archive)

The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Netherlands)
Translated from Dutch by David Colmer
(Archipelago)

The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolaño (Chile)
Translated from Spanish by Chris Andrews
(New Directions)

Wonder by Hugo Claus (Belgium)
Translated from Dutch by Michael Henry Heim
(Archipelago)

Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada (Germany)
Translated from German by Michael Hofmann
(Melville House)

Op Oloop by Juan Filloy (Argentina)
Translated from Spanish by Lisa Dillman
(Dalkey Archive)

Vilnius Poker by Ri?ardas Gavelis (Lithuania)
Translated from Lithuanian by Elizabeth Novickas
(Open Letter)

The Zafarani Files by Gamal al-Ghitani (Egypt)
Translated from Arabic by Farouk Abdel Wahab
(American University Press of Cairo)

The Weather Fifteen Years Ago by Wolf Haas (Austria)
Translated from German by Stephanie Gilardi and Thomas S. Hansen
(Ariadne Press)

The Confessions of Noa Weber by Gail Hareven (Israel)
Translated from the Hebrew by Dalya Bilu
(Melville House)

The Discoverer by Jan Kjærstad (Norway)
Translated from the Norwegian by Barbara Haveland
(Open Letter)

Memories of the Future by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (Russia)
Translated from Russian by Joanne Turnbull
(New York Review Books)

Desert by J. M. G. Le Clézio (France)
Translated from French by C. Dickson
(David R. Godine)

There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night by Cao Naiqian (China)
Translated from Chinese by John Balcom
(Columbia University Press)

The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)
Translated from Turkish by Maureen Freely
(Knopf)

News from the Empire by Fernando del Paso (Mexico)
Translated from Spanish by Alfonso González and Stella T. Clark
(Dalkey Archive)

The Mighty Angel by Jerzy Pilch (Poland)
Translated from Polish by Bill Johnston
(Open Letter)

Rex by José Manuel Prieto (Cuba)
Translated from Spanish by Esther Allen
(Grove)

Death in Spring by Mercè Rodoreda (Spain)
Translated from Catalan by Martha Tennent
(Open Letter)

Landscape with Dog and Other Stories by Ersi Sotiropoulos (Greece)
Translated from Greek by Karen Emmerich
(Clockroot)

Brecht at Night by Mati Unt (Estonia)
Translated from Estonian by Eric Dickens
(Dalkey Archive)

In the United States of Africa by Abdourahman Waberi (Djibouti)
Translated from French by David and Nicole Ball
(University of Nebraska Press)

The Tanners by Robert Walser (Austria)
Translated from German by Susan Bernofsky
(New Directions)

Choosing the winning books is a panel of nine judges, including representatives from the Center for the Art of Translation, Words Without Borders, and Public Radio International.

http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/