Wintry mix Thursday night, another storm Friday

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support


South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the 

The novel, Han's first to be translated into English, is about a woman who decides to stop eating meat and wants to become a tree. Her decision has devastating consequences and raises concerns among family members that she is mentally ill.

The Associated Press reports, "Literary critic Boyd Tonkin, chairman of the judging panel, said Han's 'compact, exquisite and disturbing' novel displayed an 'uncanny blend of beauty and horror.' "

The prize, worth $72,000, will be split between Han, 45, and her translator, Deborah Smith, a 28-year-old Briton, who started teaching herself Korean in 2010.

Han's book was on the shortlist to win the prize.


Also on that list were Italian author Elena Ferrante for 

the fourth and concluding volume of her Neapolitan Novels; Angola-born author José Eduardo Agualusa for 

written in Portuguese; Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk for 

The Man Booker International Prize, according to its website, was created in 2005 to highlight "one writer's overall contribution to fiction on the world stage." It was awarded every two years "to a living author who published fiction either originally in English or whose work was generally available in translation in the English language."

Beginning with this year's prize, the Man Booker International Prize "is awarded annually for a single work of fiction, translated into English and published in the UK."


The Man Booker International Prize is counterpart to the better-known Man Booker Prize, which describes itself as "the leading literary award in the English-speaking world." This year's winner will be announced in October.  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Doreen McCallister

Author

South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the prize for her dark novel "The Vegetarian" at a London ceremony on Monday. She shares the honor with translator Deborah Smith.

'The Vegetarian' wins Man Booker International Prize for fiction

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox