The Winner of This Year’s International Booker Prize Is…

Georgi Gospodinov has officially emerged as the winner of the 2023 International Booker Prize.

The International Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world. Established in 2005 as a counterpart to the Booker Prize, which is awarded to English-language novels, the International Booker Prize celebrates outstanding works of fiction that are translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. Previous winners include Philip Roth, Han Kang, David Grossman, and Olga Tokarczuk.

The prize has been awarded annually since 2015, with a panel of writers and editors assessing the relevance and quality of several novels and short stories known as the "longlist." They then select a winner from the "shortlist," who receives £50,000, which is split with their translators. Nominees from the second round win £5,000 each.

Typically, the nominated books provide a look into the lives of people from the author's culture. This year's shortlist includes work from six countries across four continents, with two debuts and a final novel from a retiring author. The chair of this year's judges, Moroccan author Le'ila Slimani, described the books as "bold, subversive, [and] nicely perverse. It is a list of remarkable variety."

Regardless of who wins, the competition helps elevate the profiles of authors and their translators by making their work more accessible to a global audience. Check out this year's winner and nominees below:

The Winner: Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov

Pub Date: May 10, 2022
Genre: Literary Fiction

In Time Shelter, a man named Gaustine creates a "clinic for the past," a series of rooms which allow patients with Alzheimer's to go back in time. Gaustine's assistant, an unnamed narrator, is assigned with pulling mementos — furniture, clothing, even sights and smells — from each decade to make the rooms feel more real.

But as they expand and become more convincing, even healthy people visit the clinic as a "time shelter," thus creating an unexpected quandary when the past merges with the present. In a blend of magical realism and metafiction, Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov reflects on the fleeting nature of time and the significance of the moments we cherish.

The Shortlist:

1. The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé

Pub Date: March 7, 2023
Genre: Literary Fiction

In her final novel, French author Maryse Condé presents an exploration of the enduring impacts of colonialism and a testament to the power of faith. A baby is born on Easter Sunday and declared a miracle. The rumor is that Pascal is the child of God, so he embarks on a journey to find his biological father and make sense of the signs he's been seeing his whole life.

The story unfolds through the perspectives of several individuals, stretching across plantations and bustling cities, capturing racial and power dynamics with humor and hope.

2. Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel

Pub Date: August 9, 2022
Genre: Literary Fiction

Alina and Laura are friends, independent career women, and childfree. As Laura decides to be sterilized and subsequently forges a bond with her neighbor's son, Alina goes through an unexpected pregnancy and finds herself excited by the prospect of being a mother — though it's not anything like she'd hoped it would be.

With a profound understanding of the human condition, award-winning Mexican author Guadalupe Nettel invites readers on a journey through the conflicting paradigms of love and loss.

3. Standing Heavy by GauZ

Pub Date: May 26, 2022
Genre: Satirical Fiction

In his debut novel, Ivorian author and journalist GauZ traces the lives of undocumented African immigrants working as security guards in Paris. The novel is set in three different time periods, capturing the unique challenges of each guard as they contend with racial profiling, excessive consumerism, and the consequences of colonialism and France's immigration policies.

Satirical and lively, Standing Heavy offers a compelling portrayal of all that unfolds under a security guard's watchful eye.

4. Boulder by Eva Baltasar

Pub Date: August 2, 2022
Genre: Literary Fiction

In Boulder, Catalan author Eva Baltasar invites readers into the world of a protagonist conflicted by love. The story follows Boulder, a thirty year old who falls for a woman named Samsa while working on a merchant ship. When they move to Reykjavik, Samsa decides she wants a child — and though Boulder isn't as excited, she can't say no.

As the responsibilities of motherhood turn Samsa into a person she doesn't recognize, Boulder must decide what's most important to her: freedom, or love.

5. Whale by Cheon Myeong-Kwan

Pub Date: May 2, 2023
Genre: Satirical Fiction

South Korean novelist Cheon Myeong-Kwan has captivated readers across the globe with Whale, a multigenerational saga exploring the interconnected lives of several women after the Korean War. There's Geumbok, an impoverished woman who rises up the ranks as a successful entrepreneur; her mute daughter Chunhui, a former prisoner that is attempting to define her own path in the shadow of her mother's success; and a one-eyed woman who can control honeybees.

Violent and fantastical narratives are brilliantly woven together to capture a society of women affected by sexism, westernization, and capitalism.