Also on the longlist are On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland; There’s a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert; Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary; Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson; Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton; and A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson.
Along with Romanian, a second language, Kannada – spoken by approximately 38 million people, primarily in the state of Karnataka in southwest India – also features for the first time in the prize’s history with Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi.
This year’s longlist sees an Iraqi translator nominated for the first time, with The Book of Disappearance by Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem, translated by Sinan Antoon.
Though the most recent Nobel prize in literature winner Han Kang was eligible for this year’s prize with her book We Do Not Part, translated from Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, she did not make the list.
Cărtărescu is the first Romanian author to be longlisted for the prize, with his novel Solenoid, translated by Sean Cotter.
