Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 shortlist announced

From the Mouth of the Whale. One of the six book shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012. Credit: Telegram Books

The shortlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 has been announced, with translated fiction by two Italian authors, one German, one Israeli, one Icelandic and one Chinese in the running for this year's £10,000 prize.

These six shortlisted contenders are:

• Alice by Judith Hermann, translated from the German by Margot Bettauer Dembo (The Clerkenwell Press)
• 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)
• From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (Telegram Books)
• New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani, translated from the Italian by Judith Landry (Dedalus)
• The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon (Harvill Secker)

Funded by Arts Council England and administered by Booktrust, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is awarded annually to the best work of contemporary fiction in translation. The overall winner of the prize will be announced on Monday 14 May. 

For more information about the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the books on the shortlist, visit the Booktrust website.

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