Photo credit: Evgeniya Davydova / ru.wikipedia.org (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Russian writer Maria Stepanova was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, TASS reports. She became the first of the representatives of Russia who was able to get into the number of finalists since 2016, when the prize was awarded annually for a certain book.
The award is given in the field of literature in English. In total, the shortlist includes six authors from five countries. The Russian writer was noted for the essay book "In Memory of Memory", where Maria Stepanova talks about the history of her family.
According to Lucy Hughes-Hollett, the British writer who leads the jury, this piece stands at the border of history, memoirs, essays and fiction. According to her, the book of the Russian writer is filled with grief and vitality, it is very original.
Two works translated from Spanish, two from French and one from Danish are going to compete with Stepanova's book. The winner will receive 69,000 dollars. The award will be split between the writer and the translator.
As Russkiy Mir reported, the work In Memory of Memory was awarded the Russian literary prize Big Book in 2018.
According to the head of the Big Book award Georgy Urushadze, the work of Maria Stepanova is an absolute triumphant of modern literature.
The Booker Prize winner will be announced on June 2.
Russkiy Mir
