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A novel banned by the Chinese government has made the longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012, worth £10,000.
Yan Lianke’s novel Dream of Ding Village, about a blood-selling scandal in contemporary China, was given a "three nos" order—no distribution, no sales, no promotion—in 2005.
Its English translation, published by Corsair, is joined on the 15-strong longlist by titles translated from the Spanish, Hebrew, Norwegian and nine other languages, with Random House imprints taking six of the 15 titles, including Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84: Books 1 and 2.
Judge and director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival Nick Barley said: "This year’s list couldn’t be more diverse—both in sheer scale and in subject matter. And while it has been a strong year for the established literary imprints, I was delighted that several titles from smaller independent publishers also shone out. Among these 15 titles there’s a treasure trove of unforgettable treats for readers."
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is awarded annually to the best work of contemporary fiction in translation.
The shortlist will be announced on the 12th April, with the winner revealed on 14th May.
The longlist in full:
1Q84: Books 1 and 2 by Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin (Harvill Secker)
Alice by Judith Hermann, translated from the German by Margot Bettauer Dembo (The Clerkenwell Press)
Scenes From Village Life by Amos Oz, translated from the Hebrew by Nicholas De Lange (Chatto & Windus)
Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld, translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green (Alma Books)
Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke, translated from the Chinese by Cindy Carter (Corsair)
The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg, translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death (Faber)
From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (Telegram Books)
Hate: A Romance by Tristan Garcia, translated from the French by Marion Duvert and Lorin Stein (Faber)
New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani, translated from the Italian by Judith Landry (Dedalus)
Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki, translated from the German by Anthea Bell (Peirene Press)
Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas, translated from the Hungarian by Imre Goldstein (Jonathan Cape)
Please Look After Mother by Kyung-sook Shin, translated from the Korean by Shin Chi-Young Kim (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon (Harvill Secker)
Professor Andersen's Night by Dag Solstad, translated from the Norwegian by Agnes Scott Langeland (Harvill Secker)
Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Harvill Secker)