Champions of the word

Treasures from Berlin to Bengal feature on the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist

For ten years the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize has been running in its present form. Over that time, and with loyal and generous support from Arts Council England and Champagne Taittinger, it has grown into the most highly esteemed, and eagerly awaited, prize for fiction in translation in Britain – and maybe far beyond.

It would be nice to report (from somewhere in Utopia) that within that short decade UK publishers had galloped to embrace the best in international fiction, and set aside their traditional reluctance to look overseas at any work outside their native tongue. Needless to say, that has not happened - and will not happen any time soon. All the same, the reach and resonance of fiction from beyond the Anglosphere have, beyond any doubt, increased.

Full report here Independent