Novelist Han Kang in Running for 2nd Man Booker Prize

Published on 2018/04/22 | Source

Korean novelist Han Kang, who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 for "The Vegetarian", was shortlisted for the prestigious award again this year for "The White Book". The shortlist was announced in London, Britain last Thursday.

Translated by Deborah Smith, the 30-year-old British woman who also translated "The Vegetarian", the English version of "The White Book" was published last year by Portobello Books. It was named one of the best books of 2017 by British daily newspaper the Guardian in an article featuring recommendations by famous writers.

In an interview published on the Man Booker International Prize website on April 5, Han responded to the inclusion of "The White Book" on the longlist. "It was utterly unexpected. 'The White Book' is ultimately a novel, but at the same time also a book which resists classification, existing in the borders between fiction, essay and poetry. It is surprising -- in a good way -- to see a book which has such an experimental form included on the longlist".

The other novels on the shortlist are "Vernon Subutex 1" by Virginie Descents of France, "The World Goes On" by Laszlo Krasznahorkai of Hungary, "Like a Fading Shadow" by Antonio Munoz Molina of Spain, "Frankenstein in Baghdad" by Ahmed Saadawi of Iraq, and "Flights" by Olga Tokarczuk of Poland.