THERE WAS A BUZZ IN THE ROOM at this year's International Booker prize ceremony in May, as some eye-opening- and encouraging numbers were shared by the organisers. The figures, from a broad survey of book buyers, showed that sales of translated fiction increased by 22% last year, compared with 2021 - and that the category is most popular among readers under 35, who account for almost 50% of translated fiction sales. This is much higher than the 31% share of overall fiction sales bought by these readers - and the figures have grown year on year. For translated fiction, the future looks bright. I spoke to the people involved in publishing, translating and reading translated fiction to find out why it's so successful among younger readers - and to discover which publisher is so cool that its books have become a "cultural accessory". So how did it become cool, and which are the names to watch out for?
Undoubtedly, the International Booker prize itself has boosted the profile of fiction from around the world published in English. Fiammetta Rocco has been the prize's administrator from its launch as an annual award in 2016, since then its winners have enjoyed enormous attention and boosts to sales.
Last year's winner, Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell, increased its sales from 500 copies before its nomination to 25,000 copies in the nine months after its win. (Not bad for a 624-page epic about a woman who won't get out of bed.) The first winner, Han Kang's The Vegetarian in 2016, translated by Deborah Smith, about a woman who refuses society's expectations in unsettling ways, did even better. "This is a book that had sold 2,000 copies in Korean over 10 years," she says. "It's now sold half a million in English, and a lot more in Korean."
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