My favourite book award, The Man Booker International Prize, announced their long-list today and it is, as usual, an incredibly diverse list, geographically and thematically. We have books from Iceland to China, Argentina to Albania. I remember loving Albanian Ismail Kadare’s psychological thriller The Successor when it came out 10 years ago, so I’ll start with his new book The Traitor’s Niche. A pretty dark book by the sounds of it telling the story of a courtier in the Ottoman Empire responsible for transporting the severed heads of the Sultan’s enemies. Nice to see Roy Jacobsen, one of Norway’s most revered authors, on the list, although The Unseen is not considered to be his best, that accolade goes to Child Wonder. I was disappointed that The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis didn’t make it.  Wonder why… In any case, there’s plenty to choose from here. Which one would you like to read?

Compass by Mathias Énard (France), translated by Charlotte Mandell and published by Fitzcarraldo Editions

Swallowing Mercury by Wioletta Greg (Poland), translated by Eliza Marciniak and published by Portobello Books

A Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman (Israel), translated by Jessica Cohen and published by Jonathan Cape

The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen (Norway), translated by Don Bartlett and published by MacLehose Press

The Traitor’s Niche by Ismail Kadare (Albania), translated by John Hodgson and published by Harvill Secker

Fish Have No Feet by Jón Kalman Stefánsson (Iceland), translated by Philip Roughton and published by MacLehose Press

The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke (China), translated by Carlos Rojas and published by Chatto & Windus

Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer (Germany), translated by Katy Derbyshire and published by Fitzcarraldo Editions

Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors (Denmark), translated by Misha Hoekstra and published by Pushkin Press

Judas by Amos Oz (Israel), translated by Nicholas de Lange and published by Chatto & Windus

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (Argentina), translated by Megan McDowell and published by Oneworld

The short-list is out on the 20th April and the winner announced on the 14th June.