Thirteen translated works exploring memory, violence, and the fragile bonds between private lives and history
The International Booker Prize 2019 longlist brings together fiction in translation that is formally inventive and emotionally exacting. These books traverse continents and generations, illuminating how individual lives are shaped by political upheaval, social constraint, and historical rupture. Together, they demonstrate the power of translation to expand not only language but perspective.
Across the list, many writers grapple with memory — personal, collective, and national. Whether revisiting war, dictatorship, family trauma, or ideological collapse, these novels examine how the past persists in the present. Several experiment boldly with structure, voice, and genre, blurring boundaries between memoir, myth, and fiction.
What unites the 2019 selection is its moral seriousness and imaginative reach. These are books that challenge readers to confront injustice, uncertainty, and loss, while also offering moments of lyricism, dark humour, and resistance. They stand as a compelling snapshot of contemporary world literature at its most ambitious.
by Jokha Alharthi
Set in Oman, Celestial Bodies traces the lives of three sisters navigating marriage, freedom, and tradition. Alharthi weaves personal stories with the country’s social transformation. The narrative shifts across time and perspective with quiet confidence. Domestic moments carry political weight. The prose is restrained yet emotionally rich. A subtle, illuminating portrait of change.
by Annie Ernaux
The Years is a collective autobiography tracing postwar French life through shared memory. Ernaux writes in a distinctive, impersonal voice that captures generational change. Private experience merges with public history. The prose is spare and precise. Time flows relentlessly forward. A profound meditation on memory and identity.
by Olga Tokarczuk
This darkly comic novel follows an eccentric woman investigating a series of murders in rural Poland. Tokarczuk blends crime fiction with philosophical reflection and ecological critique. The narrator’s voice is sharp, funny, and unsettling. Morality and justice are constantly questioned. The novel defies genre expectations. Playful, provocative, and deeply original.
by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Vásquez’s novel investigates political assassinations in Colombia across decades. Blending fiction, history, and conspiracy, it questions how nations construct truth. The narrative is intricate and intellectually ambitious. Personal obsession mirrors national trauma. Doubt becomes a central theme. A compelling exploration of memory and power.
by Alia Trabucco Zeran
This compact novel follows a woman reflecting on friendship, guilt, and the aftermath of violence. Set against the legacy of dictatorship in Chile, the narrative interrogates responsibility and complicity. Trabucco Zeran’s prose is sharp and unsentimental. Silence speaks as loudly as confession. The novel resists closure. Intense and morally probing.
by Sara Stridsberg
Stridsberg reimagines the life of feminist writer Valerie Solanas in this fragmented novel. The narrative blends biography, fantasy, and rage. Women’s voices erupt against silence and marginalisation. The prose is lyrical and furious. Structure mirrors emotional fracture. A bold, uncompromising work.
by Hwang Sok-yong
This novel examines urban development and social inequality in modern Seoul. Through intersecting lives, Hwang exposes displacement and moral compromise. The narrative is grounded and humane. Economic progress carries human cost. The prose is measured but emotionally resonant. A thoughtful critique of contemporary capitalism.
by Marion Poschmann
After a personal crisis, a German academic travels to Japan in search of poetic and spiritual clarity. The novel blends humour, travel writing, and literary reflection. Poschmann explores masculinity, failure, and self-invention with lightness and depth. Haiku and landscape shape the narrative’s rhythm. The tone is gently ironic. A contemplative, quietly funny novel.
by Hubert Mingarelli
Set on the Eastern Front during World War I, this spare novel focuses on four soldiers far from battle. Mingarelli writes with restraint and precision. Waiting and boredom become as powerful as violence. The men’s fragile camaraderie offers fleeting comfort. Silence dominates the narrative. A quiet, haunting anti-war novel.
by Samanta Schweblin
This collection explores bodies, fear, and transformation through unsettling short stories. Schweblin blends realism with the uncanny. Ordinary situations slip into horror. Tension builds through suggestion rather than explanation. The prose is sharp and controlled. Deeply disturbing and memorable.
by Tommy Wieringa
This novel recounts the death of a Moroccan man at Europe’s borders through shifting perspectives. Wieringa examines indifference, fear, and moral failure. The narrative is restrained but devastating. Each voice reveals complicity. The book refuses easy blame. A powerful indictment of Europe’s migration crisis.
by Mazen Maarouf
This story collection blends surreal humour with the violence of life in Gaza. Maarouf uses absurdity to survive trauma and fear. Childhood innocence collides with brutality. The tone shifts between comic and devastating. Reality feels constantly unstable. Inventive and emotionally powerful.
by Can Xue
This surreal novel explores desire and alienation in a strange, shifting cityscape. Can Xue abandons realism in favour of dream logic. Characters drift between intimacy and estrangement. Meaning is deliberately unstable. The prose is hypnotic and disorienting. A challenging vision of modern relationships.