A novel that gives voice to the little-heard stories of immigrants around the world is nominated for the 2024 Women's Novel Prize
LONDON — A novel that gives voice to the little-heard stories of migrants around the world has been added to the shortlist for the 2024 Women's Novel Prize.
The shortlist of 16 books for the £30,000 (about $38,000) prize announced on Tuesday includes works by authors from Ghana, Barbados, Britain, the United States, Ireland, South Korea and Australia.
Novelist Monica Ali, who chairs the jury, said the works ranged from science fiction such as Barbadian author Karen Lord's “A Beautiful Blue World,'' to historical novels, coming-of-age stories, “intimate domestic dramas,'' and blockbusters. said. Saga. The settings include Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Australia, and South Korea.
Ali said many books deal with the theme of migration and migration in very different ways.
Maya Binyam's “Hangman'' and Isabella Hamad's “Enter Ghost'' deal with the return of immigrants to their homeland. Peace Adzo Medie's “Nightbloom” is about two of her childhood friends, living in Ghana and the United States, who face racism and the immigrant experience. Aub Rey Lescure's “River East, River West'' depicts the west-to-east immigration of Americans in China.
Immigration is often in the headlines, but Ali said, “What fiction is so great at doing is humanizing these experiences.”
Ali, who wrote about Bangladeshi immigrants to London in his 2003 novel “Brick Lane,'' said: “When you talk about numbers, in a way you dehumanize people. They don't have a voice.'' Because I don't have it,” he said.
Numbers alone don't accurately represent the complexity of the situation, she says. “None of that comes across when you speak in politician soundbites.”
The list focuses on new authors, with eight nominees being debut novels and four being derivative novels. The most published authors are Ireland's Anne Enright, who was nominated for her seventh novel, The Wren, The Wren, and the previous Women of the Year winner, who made the list with her eighth novel, Restless Dolly Maunder. Kate Grenville from Australia.
British author Chetna Maloo, one of the debut novelists, has been shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize for Western Lane, the story of a young squash prodigy who grapples with family tragedy.
Established in 1996, the award is open to women English writers from any country. Past winners include Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Barbara Kingsolver, who won last year for “Demon Copperhead.”
This year, prize organizers launched the Women in Nonfiction Prize, with the aim of redressing the imbalance in publishing. In 2022, only 26.5% of non-fiction books reviewed in British newspapers were written by women, and established non-fiction writing awards were dominated by male authors.
The six shortlisted works for the fiction prize will be announced on April 24th, and the winners of both the fiction and non-fiction prizes will be crowned at a ceremony in London on June 13th.