Norman Pasaribu's Book Longlisted for International Booker Prize

TheIndonesia.id - A fiction book by Indonesian author Norman Erikson Pasaribu has been longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and is among the 13 titles that were announced, originating from 12 countries and translated from 11 languages.

Happy Stories, Mostly is a collection of 12 short stories, with the Booker Prizes calling it a “powerful blend of science fiction, absurdism and alternative-historical realism that aims to destabilize the heteronormative world and expose its underlying rot”.

In Happy Stories, Mostly Pasaribu puts queer characters in situations and plots conventionally filled by hetero characters.

The book was translated by Tiffany Tsao.

The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. The £50,000 prize money will be divided equally between the author and translator, and this year, shortlisted authors and translators will also each receive £2,500.

This year’s longlist includes previous winners Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft, David Grossman, and Jessica Cohen, alongside authors translated into English for the first time. 

The shortlist of six will be announced on April 7, and the winners will be named on May 26.