International Literature Award - Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2010

The literatures of the world are the focus of the award for international prose literature in a first German translation. Last year the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the Stiftung Elementarteilchen presented the award for the first time.

The nominees short list:

Édouard Glissant: „La terre magnétique“
Verlag Das Wunderhorn, 2010. Translation by Beate Thill

Yasmina Khadra: „Ce que le jour doit à la nuit“
Ullstein Verlag, 2010. Translation by Regina Keil-Sagawe

Yiyun Li: „The Vagrants“
Carl Hanser Verlag, 2009. Translation by Anette Grube

Shahriar Mandanipur: „Censoring an Iranian Love Story”
Unionsverlag, 2010. Translation by Ursula Ballin

Dinaw Mengestu: „How to read the air”
Ullstein Verlag, 2010. Translation by Volker Oldenburg

Daniyal Mueenuddin: „In other rooms, other wonders”
Suhrkamp Verlag, 2010. Translation by Brigitte Heinrich

Marie NDiaye: „Trois Femmes Puissantes“
Suhrkamp Verlag, 2010. Translation by Claudia Kalscheuer

The highly endowed award - €25,000 goes to the author and €10,000 to the translator - draws attention to contemporary literature across the globe and pays tribute to the mediatory role played by literary translators. The award acknowledges contemporary international narrative voices, particularly from countries within Africa, Asia, Central and South America, which move between the worlds and literatures of a globalized world and "transfer" it in a literary form. In 2009, the Peruvian author Daniel Alarcón and his translator Friederike Meltendorf won the first INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE AWARD – HAUS DER KULTUREN DER WELT for "Lost City Radio" (Wagenbach Verlag, 2008).

Once again, in 2010, German and international publishing houses were invited to submit titles by 06 of April 2010. A jury of renowned literary critics and scholars is now selecting the award winner through a multistage process.

Jury members: Christian Döring (editor and literary critic), Gregor Dotzauer (literary critic Der Tagesspiegel), Ottmar Ette (Chair of Romance Literature, University of Potsdam), Sigrid Löffler (literary critic), Katharina Narbutovic (Director, DAAD Berlin Artist-in-Residence program), Peter Ripken (CEO ICORN – International Cities of Refuge Network), and Susanne Stemmler (Head of Literature, Haus der Kulturen der Welt).

Contact literaturpreis@hkw.de

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