The 2013 IMPAC Shortlist is a Global Affair

The IMPAC Award shortlist was announced today. The IMPAC sets itself apart with its unique approach. Its massive longlist is compiled by libraries all over the world before being whittled down by judges. This makes for a more egalitarian selection. It’s also got a long lead time. Books up for the current prize (to be named June 6th) were mostly published in 2012, putting the IMPAC more than a year behind other big literary awards. There’s a distinct upside in this. By now, nearly all the shortlisted books are available in paperback in the U.S. The IMPAC also tends to be interesting for the breadth of books it considers.

This year’s shortlist is remarkable because half of its titles are works in translation.

• City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (review)
  
• The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq (review)
  
• Pure by Andrew Miller (Ellen Ullman’s Year In Reading post)
  
• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (Charles Baxter’s Year In Reading post, “Reading 1Q84: The Case for Fiction in a Busy Life“)
• The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (excerpt)
  
• The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips (excerpt)
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (The Millions interviews Karen Russell not once but twice.)
• From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (review)
  
• The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti Skomsvold (review)
  
• Caesarion by Tommy Wieringa