Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov wins International Booker Prize 2023 for Time Shelter
The book 'Time Shelter' written by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel, wins The International Booker Prize 2023. Photo: The Booker Prizes
Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov's novel Time Shelter, translated into English by Angela Rodel, has won The International Booker Prize 2023.
The author and the translator were awarded £50,000 prize which was equally split between the two.
Congratulations to @Gospodinov68 and @rodel_angela for winning the #InternationalBooker2023 with 'Time Shelter'. @wnbooks @orionbooks
— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) May 23, 2023
Find out more about the novel here: https://t.co/6cS9o53qEc pic.twitter.com/ieI4VrJhnP
The novel Time Shelter is the first book written in Bulgarian to ever win The International Booker Prize. Georgi Gospodinov, 55, is one of the most translated and internationally awarded Bulgarian writer, poet and playwright.
He is a leading voice of contemporary European literature. The book was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on April 21, 2023.
The winner Time Shelter
- About the book:The novel is about a psychiatrist who creates a clinic in Switzerland to help people with Alzheimer’s. The clinic includes spaces that recreate past eras in intricate detail to help patients retain their memories, and the experiment proves so successful that the idea is taken up far beyond the hospital’s walls, writes The New York Times.
- The panel of The International Booker Prize 2023 judges was chaired by prize-winning French-Moroccan novelist Leila Slimani, who described the book as “a brilliant novel full of irony and melancholy.” She went on to say: “It is a very profound work that deals with a contemporary question and also a philosophical question: what happens to us when our memories disappear?”
- Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rode were announced as the winner of The International Booker Prize on May 23 evening at an event at London's Sky Garden.
Indian novel made it to the Longlist
- The novel Pyre, by Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, made it to the International Booker Prize 2023 Longlist.
- The book is set in the rural Tamil Nadu of the 1980s and is about two people in love, who belong to different castes, get married - it is their young love being pitted against social discrimination.
Nominees who made it to the Shortlist
Still Born
- The novel, 'Still Born' is written by Guadalupe Nettel and translated by Rosalind Harvey.
- This book explores one of the most crucial life decisions, whether or not to have a children.
Standing Heavy
- 'Standing Heavy' is novel written by GauZ' and translated by Frank Wynne.
- This sharply satirical, political and poignant story draws from the author's own experiences as an undocumented student in Paris.
The Gospel According to the New World
- 'The Gospel According to the New World' is written by Award-winning Caribbean author Maryse Condé and translated by Richard Philcox.
- The novel follows the journey of a miracle baby rumoured to be the child of God in search of his origins and mission.
Whale
- 'Whale' a book by Cheon Myeong-kwan and translated by Chi-Young Kim.
- The book focuses on the changed South Korea experienced in its rapid transformation from pre-modern to post-modern society.
Boulder
- 'Boulder' written by Eva Baltasar and translated by Julia Sanches.
- The book is about a modern love story of two women, the couple falls in love and move to Reykjavik together, where one of them wants a child and the other is less enthused about it. It's about their journey navigating through motherhood and life.