The Shadow Jury winner of

the 2013

Independent Foreign

Fiction Prize

is:

On Monday 20th of May, the IFFP winner will be announced. Shadowing the official Jury, were a group of likeminded individuals formed into a cohesive(ish) unit by Stu from Winstonsdad. This small group of book obsessives then set about to read the complete list with the aim of picking our own winner, along with the aforementioned Stu from Winston’s Dad, the group consists of Lisa from Anz LitLovers LitBlog, Tony from Tony’s Reading List, Mark from Eleutherophobia, and myself from The Parrish Lantern. The challenge completed it is now time for the announcement… So it is over to Tony from Tony’s Reading List:

>

> We started off in March with sixteen titles, the cream of the fiction in
translation published in the UK last year.  After a hard month of reading,
thinking, discussion and cursing, the list was cut down to six by the
official panel - which is where we parted ways.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Having chosen four of the same titles as the official panel, the Shadow
Panel (Stu, Lisa, Mark, Gary and myself) opted for two others to complete
the full half-dozen, and then set about deciding which was to take out the
prize...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Our road took us on a long journey through many times and lands.  We
spent a bizarre time in an ever-shifting, nineteenth-century German town,
working on translations and kissing the local girls.  We moved onto a dark
exploration of Communist-era Hungary (and an even darker examination of
human souls...).  We went for walks around the rainy city of Barcelona, and
then flew off to Dublin for a Bloomsday jaunt.  We witnessed an
extraordinary dinner party in Albania - and its consequences ten years on.
We followed a boy from the Siberian wilds on his trip to Helsinki and
watched as he encountered civilisation in all its forms.  We fled to Wales
(seeking some solitude) and shared a woman's house - but not her secrets...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Then we came back to earth with a bump.  There were discussions,
disagreements, grudging acceptance, and then a decision...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Our choice for the winner of the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
is:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dublinesque by Enrique Vila-Matas
>>>
>>> (translated by Rosalind Harvey and Anne McLean)
>>>
>>>
>>

>>>

>>>>

>
>>> Congratulations to the writer and translators - Dublinesque is a great
book, and it would be a worthy winner of the real prize.  So, can it do the
double?  We'll find out very soon...
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Tony

>

Thank you Tony, and I would like to take this moment to thank all of the Shadow jury for their contribution to this challenge, which due to certain factors within my home life meant my participation was not as full on as it could have been. Also thanks Stu once again for the invite & if you are on twitter you can follow the official announcement through our chairman @stujallen.

>>>

>>>

PS, I have just been interviewed on Riffle World Literature,

check here if interested

>>>