English Section

Polish writer longlisted for US National Book Award

18.09.2019 12:00
Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk’s "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" has made the longlist for the 2019 National Book Award, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the United States.
Olga Tokarczuk. Photo: Wydawnictwo Literackie [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:creativecommons.orglicensesby-sa3.0)]
Olga Tokarczuk. Photo: Wydawnictwo Literackie [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]via Wikimedia Commons

The novel, described by its American publisher Random House as a “thriller cum fairy tale,” has been nominated in the Translated Literature category along with nine other books by international authors.

First published in Poland in 2009, Tokarczuk’s murder mystery was adapted for the silver screen in 2017 by Polish filmmakers Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik under the title Spoor.

Translated into English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, the novel has garnered excellent reviews in the international press.

Earlier this year, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was shortlisted for, but failed to win, the Man Booker International Prize.

Tokarczuk won that prestigious award last year for her novel Flights.

Tokarczuk’s Flights made the short list for last year’s US National Book Award, but did not win.

The winners of this year’s National Book Awards will be announced in New York on November 20.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP, newyorker.com