2023 National Book Award Longlist For Fiction/Translated Literature

   The Booker Prize announces it's shortlist tomorrow, which reminded me that I haven't posted the two National Book Award longlists I take seriously: Fiction and Translated Literature.   I was unfamiliar with almost all the titles on both lists, to the point where it's easier to talk about the books I know.  In Fiction I tried but didn't finish Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kame Adjei-Brenyan- I think that was a situation where I checked out the Audiobook and should have just read the Ebook, but I didn't care for it- even though it's a dystopian genre/literature cross-over which should be right up my alley.  This Other Eden by Paul Harding seems like a strong shortlist candidate.  Night Watch by Jaune Anne Philips was released today,  Blackouts by Justin Torres doesn't come out until October.  bois strong representation from African-American authors (Chain-Gang, Temple Folk, Holler, Child).  Ponyboy has a trans protagonist and there are two books with Native American themes, Drum Time and A Council of Dolls.   Loot, Night Watch and This Other Eden are all historical fiction of one type or another. 

   As one might expect, Romantic languages dominate the longlist for Translated Literature, Spanish (3), French (2) and Portuguese (1) comprise 60% of the list.    I already read This is Not Miami- which doesn't seem like a prize winner for me.  I'm excited to read Diop's new book- I loved his first one and I've got the other two Spanish language titles checked out from the Los Angeles Public Library.  Seems like an unadventurous list if you ask me- the only language that comes close to being exotic is the one Arabic language title.  I think the action in this area is bringing in new languages, not continuing to read books translated from Spanish, French and German.  No idea how to handicap either longlist given my present lack of familiarity with the books on both lists.

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Fiction:

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars
Aaliyah Bilal, Temple Folk
Eliot Duncan, Ponyboy
Paul Harding, This Other Eden
Tania James, Loot
Jayne Anne Phillips, Night Watch
Mona Susan Power, A Council of Dolls
Hanna Pylväinen, The End of Drum-Time
Justin Torres, Blackouts
LaToya Watkins, Holler, Child

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature:

Juan Cárdenas, The Devil of the Provinces
Translated from the Spanish by Lizzie Davis
Bora Chung, Cursed Bunny
Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur
David Diop, Beyond the Door of No Return
Translated from the French by Sam Taylor
Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos
Translated from the German by Michael Hofmann
Stênio Gardel, The Words That Remain
Translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato
Khaled Khalifa, No One Prayed Over Their Graves
Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
Fernanda Melchor, This Is Not Miami
Translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes
Pilar Quintana, Abyss
Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman
Astrid Roemer, On a Woman’s Madness
Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, The Most Secret Memory of Men
Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud