The winner of this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was announced last night as Aharon Appelfeld, with his Holocaust novel, Blooms of Darkness (Alma Books); translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green. Appelfeld's novel, which is based … [Read more...]
Sjón chosen as winner of 2012 ‘Shadow’ Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
May 13, 2012 By 8 Comments
If you've been following RobAroundBooks these past few weeks then you will know that I, along with others (details below), have been 'shadow judging' this year's official Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. We read, reviewed and mulled over the … [Read more...]
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 shortlist
April 12, 2012 By 5 Comments
The shortlist for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was published this morning, revealing a final line up of six titles which span two centuries of history, and a geography that reaches from Iceland through western Europe, all the way to … [Read more...]
‘Shadow’ Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 shortlist revealed
April 11, 2012 By 2 Comments
If you've been following my activities over the past month or so (both here, and on Twitter), then you'll know that I've been busying myself with serving on a 'shadow jury' for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The brain child of … [Read more...]
Afterthoughts: Me and You by Niccolò Ammaniti
March 21, 2012 By 3 Comments
In a Nutshell: While this may be the shortest novel that Niccolò Ammaniti has published to date, it's no less powerful than any of his other works of fiction. Containing all of the signature themes that have made Ammaniti the stand out storyteller … [Read more...]
Forethoughts: Me and You by Niccolò Ammaniti
March 20, 2012 By 6 Comments
*Please note, I've now posted my afterthoughts for Me and You. It's not every day that I'll leapfrog a new arrival to the top of my review pile (especially while I'm reading as a shadow judge for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize), but … [Read more...]
Afterthoughts: Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz
March 19, 2012 By 10 Comments
In a Nutshell: A wonderfully engaging novel from Amos Oz, which explores to some depth the theme of loss and longing, and the eternal search to find that which cannot be found. If you're not a fan of the short form or the ambiguous novel then it … [Read more...]
Forethoughts: Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz
March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
*Please note, I've now posted my afterthoughts for Scenes from Village Life. And so I take a first tentative step into this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize as a 'shadow judge', by reading one of the shortest books on the longlist, … [Read more...]
‘Shadowing’ the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
March 8, 2012 By 8 Comments
So, you would have seen my post earlier today announcing this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize longlist? If you did then you might also have caught the hint I gave at the end of that post about having a special announcement to make? Well, … [Read more...]
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 longlist revealed
March 8, 2012 By 9 Comments
The longlist for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was announced early today, revealing another diverse selection of globe-spanning titles which have been translated into the English language. Topping this year's selection is Haruki … [Read more...]