German author Jenny Erpenback and translator Michael Hofmann have been named the winner of the International Booker Prize 2024 for the book ‘Kairos’. The announcement was made by Eleanor Wachtel, Chair of the 2024 judges, at a ceremony sponsored by Maison Valentino at Tate Modern in London, the United Kingdom (UK).
- Jenny Erpenbeck became the 1st German writer to win the Prize, and Michael Hofmann became the 1st male translator to win since the Prize launched in its current form in 2016.
- Kairos became the 1st book translated from German to English to win the International Booker Prize.
Note: Granta Books, an independent literary publisher in the UK, published the book Kairos.
Prize Value:
The award carries a cash prize of 50,000 British pound sterling and is split equally between the author and the translator, giving each equal recognition.
- In addition, the shortlisted authors and translators each receive 2,500 British pound sterling.
About International Booker Prize:
i.It is awarded annually for outstanding fiction from around the globe, recognising the finest works translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
ii.It was established in 2005 as the Man Booker International Prize and was initially a biennial prize for a body of work.
iii.Since 2015, the International Booker Prize has been awarded annually for a single translated book, written in another language and translated into English.
- In 2008, Indian author Aravind Adiga won the Man Booker Prize for ‘The White Tiger’.
About Jenny Erpenbeck:
i.She was born in East Berlin, Germany in 1967, and is an opera director, playwright, and award-winning novelist.
ii.Her works have been translated into over 30 languages.
iii.Debut novella: Geschichte vom alten Kind (1999), translated as The Old Child (2005)
Other notable works:
The End of Days (2014), winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize;; Visitation (2010) was named one of the 100 best books of the 21st century by The Guardian in 2019; Go, Went, Gone (2017).
About Michael Hofmann:
i.He has been teaching part-time at the University of Florida in Gainesville, the United States (US) since 1993.
ii.He served as a judge for the International Booker Prize in 2018.
iii.He has published 4 poetry collection, including “Nights in the Iron Hotel,” “Acrimony,” “Corona,” and “Approximately Nowhere,” all re-issued by Faber in 2016.
About the Book Kairos:
It is an intimate and devastating story that navigates the journey of two individuals amidst the backdrop of a seismic period in European history.
