The 29 year old Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and the translator Michele Hutchinson ran away with the International Man Booker Prize 2020 yesterday for the book The Discomfort of the Evening. Rijneveld (who prefers to be addressed as they) tells the story of a boy who dies in an accident after his sister, following an argument, wishes he’d die instead of her rabbit. Loosely based on Rijneveld’s own experiences, they grew up on a farm in a deeply religious family and also lost a brother, the book deals with the piousness, loss and delusions. Haven’t read this one myself but sounds worthwhile if you’re ready for something serious. Here’s the best of the rest:

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Farsi-Iran), translated by Anonymous, published by Europa Editions.

The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Spanish-Argentina), translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh, published by Charco Press

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (Germany-German), translated by Ross Benjamin, published by Quercus

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Spanish-Mexico), translated by Sophie Hughes, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (Japanese-Japan), translated by Stephen Snyder, published by Harvill Secker