Polish writer longlisted for top US literary prize

The novel, translated into English by Jennifer Croft and described by critics as a philosophical meditation on modern-day travel, has been longlisted in this year’s inaugural category of Translated Literature, Poland’s PAP news agency has reported.

Other authors whose books have made the longlist in the same category include French-Iranian screenwriter Négar Djavadi’s Disoriental, Norwegian author Hanne Ørstavik’s Love and Japanese writer Yoko Tawada’s Emissary.

In May, Tokarczuk’s Flights, which first appeared in Poland in 2007 under its Polish title Bieguni, won the Man Booker International Prize, an international literary award hosted in Britain.

Fifty-six-year-old Tokarczuk is among the most popular and critically acclaimed Polish writers. Two other of her books, Primeval and Other Times and House of Day, House of Night, are also available in English translations.

The winners of this year’s National Book Awards are due to be announced in New York on November 14.

(aba-mk/gs)

Source: PAP