Barnes’ brief but powerful new novel is “. . . as calm as it is disturbing, as melancholy as it is comical, a novel that can be read on several levels: as a personal outpouring, an account by a man wishing to clear his name, or an assault on the power of memories. A novel that makes the reader doubt everything he thinks he knows about himself.” For Vlek’s translation, the jury expressed equal praise: “Translator Ronald Vlek not only manages to transform the narrator’s language into perfect, measured Dutch, he is remarkably successful in capturing Barnes’ undertone. He meticulously transforms the restrained, sometimes evasive sentences, the lucid images and carefully chosen words into Dutch without ever allowing them to lose any of their connotations.”

Modeled after Three Percent’s Best Translated Book Award, the European Literature Prize is sponsored by the Academic-Cultural Centre SPUI25, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer, and Athenaeum Booksellers. The four other shortlisted titles for the prize are as follows:

Geluk als het geluk ver te zoeken is by Wilhelm Genazino, translated from German by Gerrit Bussink (Atlas Contact)

De kaart en het gebied by Michel Houellebecq, translated from French by Martin de Haan (De Arbeiderspers)

C by Tom McCarthy, translated from English by Auke Leistra (De Bezige Bij)

De waarheid omtrent Marie by Jean-Philippe Toussaint, translated from French by Marianne Kaas (Prometheus)

Eleven independent bookshops selected books for the longlist. The professional jury then pared it down, selected the shortlist, and chose the winner.

Today, the chairman of the jury, Frans Timmermans, announced the five title shortlist:

• HHhH by Laurent Binet, translated from the French by Liesbeth van Nes (Meulenhoff)

• Dat weet je niet by Jens Christian Grøndahl, translated from the Danish by Annelies van Hees (Meulenhoff)

• De niet verhoorde gebeden van Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, translated from the English by Harm Damsma en Niek Miedema (Ailantus)

• Drie sterke vrouwen by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jeanne Holierhoek (De Geus)

• De werkplaats van de duivel by Jáchym Topol, translated from the Czech by Edgar de Bruin (Ambo І Anthos)

Obviously, the Mitchell book was written in English (and is really quite amazing), but additionally Grøndahl, Topol, and NDiaye have all been published in the U.S. (Although not necessarily these particular titles.) Based on my knowlege of those four authors, I personally think this is a pretty solid list, and am really looking forward to the September 3rd announcement of the winner . . .

In the meantime, here are a few quotes from the jury about the shortlisted titles:

“The exceptionally original hybrid of fiction and non-fiction” in HHhH by Laurent Binet, a literary reconstruction of the assassination of leading Nazi Reinhard Heydrich and its consequences, “allows the reader to participate in the author’s quest, even when the sources contradict each other.” The result is both “an exciting novel and an idiosyncratic commentary on the writing of history.”

Dat weet je niet (Det gør du ikke) by Jens Christian Grøndahl is centred around the marriage between an artist and a Danish Jew. The jury praised this psychological novel for its “subtle and at the same time pitiless analysis of major topics such as origin, identity and intimacy. Skilful realism, quietly expressed.”

In De niet verhoorde gebeden van Jacob de Zoet (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) by David Mitchell we travel to Japan with a young clerk sent out there in 1799 to put affairs in order at a remote Dutch East India Company trading post. “A compelling piece of historical novel writing; pleasure in storytelling leaps from the pages.” The compliment applies to the translation as well. The care and suppleness with which the different voices and the historical vocabulary have been rendered in Dutch can only be called impressive.

“Strong characterization, magnificent literature” was the jury’s verdict after reading Drie sterke vrouwen (Trois femmes puissantes) by Marie NDiaye. This incisive triptych about family relationships, banishment and violence, set in France and Senegal, “offers a painful insight into human cruelty, human impotence and the survival instinct”. The melodious style of NDiaye’s writing has been exceptionally beautifully preserved in the Dutch translation.

With De werkplaats van de duivel (Chladnou zemí), Jáchym Topol has written a grotesque novel about the latter-day history of the notorious concentration camp at the Czech fortress town of Theresienstadt, recounting how a traumatic history is being transformed into commercial entertainment. The Czech Arnon Grunberg at his best: sardonic and intelligent in equal measure.

The European Literature Prize will be awarded in 2011 for the first time, recognizing the best novel translated into Dutch from another European language and published in 2010. The winning author will receive the sum of €10,000. The prize is exceptional in that it is also awarded to the Dutch translator of the chosen book; he or she will receive € 2.500. The longlist was selected by thirteen independent bookshops. A professional jury is responsible for selecting the shortlist and the winner.

And in case you’re interested, here’s the list of jury members and supporting bookstores:

Frans Timmermans, member of the Lower House, former Secretary of State for European Affairs (chairman)
Marja Pruis, author and literary critic for De Groene Amsterdammer
Guido Snel, lecturer in modern European literature at the University of Amsterdam, writer and literary translator
Herm Pol, Athenaeum Booksellers, Amsterdam
Edith Aerts, De Groene Waterman bookshop, Antwerp, Belgium

The European Literature Prize is an initiative of the Academic-Cultural Centre SPUI25, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer and Athenaeum Booksellers. The following independent bookshops participated in the selection process:

Amsterdam
Antwerpen
Delft
Haarlem
Amsterdam
Sittard
Utrecht
Den Haag
Rotterdam
Gouda
Bergen N-H
Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Anyway, one of the random cool things that happened: At the coffee break on Saturday, moderator tole me about the “European Literature Prize,” a brand new award honoring the best Dutch translations of European literary novels—a prize modeled after the Best Translated Book Awards and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. It’s so, so cool that the IFFP spawned the BTBA, which led to the ELP . . .

This past Sunday they met to decide the twenty book longlist, which is printed below, along with their press release. (There are a few books here I’m really interested in—especially the Robles. And David Mitchell is one of my favorites . . .):

The longlist for the European Literature Prize was announced today. Thirteen independent Dutch and Flemish bookshops have selected the twenty best titles from among the European literary novels published in Dutch translation in 2010. The prize will be presented in early September during Manuscripta, the opening of the new Dutch book season.

The following twenty titles have been nominated (in alphabetical order by author):

• Jij en ik (lo e te) by Niccolò Ammaniti, translated from the Italian by Etta Maris (Lebowski)

• Staal (Acciaio) by Silvia Avallone, translated from the Italian by Manon Smits (De Bezige Bij)

• ��������ü�� by Alessandro Baricco, translated from the Italian by Manon Smits (De Bezige Bij)

• HHhH by Laurent Binet, translated from the French by Liesbeth van Nes (J.M. Meulenhoff B.V.)

• Wij drieën (The Three of Us) by Julia Blackburn, translated from the English by Paul van der Lecq (De Bezige Bij)

• Waar de tijgers thuis zijn (Là où les tigres sont chez eux) by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès, translated from the French by Karina van Santen, Martine Vosmaer & Martine Woudt (Ailantus)

• De Wetenden (Orbitor)_ by Mircea Cartarescu, translated from the Romanian by Jan Willem Bos (De Bezige Bij)

• Kamer (Room) by Emma Donoghue, translated from the English by Manon Smits (Mouria)

• Slapeloos (Andvake) by Jon Fosse, translated from the Norwegian by Marianne Molenaar (Wereldbibliotheek)

• IJzig hart (El corazón helado) by Almudena Grandes, translated from the Spanish by Mia Buursma & Ans van Kersbergen (Signatuur)

• Dat weet je niet (Det gør du ikke) by Jens Christian Grøndahl, translated from the Danish by Annelies van Hees (J.M. Meulenhoff B.V.)

• Het sprookje van de laatste gedachte (Das Märchen vom letzen Gedanken) by Edgar Hilsenrath, translated from the German by Elly Schippers (Ambo І Anthos)

• Een minuut stilte (Schweigeminute) by Siegfried Lenz, translated from the German by Gerrit Bussink (Uitgeverij Van Gennep)

• De verborgen geschiedenis van Courtillon (Johannistag) by Charles Lewinsky, translated from the German by Elly Schippers (Signatuur)

• De schending (La ofensa) by Ricardo Menéndez Salmón, translated from the Spanish by Bart Peperkamp (Wereldbibliotheek)

• De niet verhoorde gebeden van Jacob de Zoet (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) by David Mitchell, translated from the English by Harm Damsma en Niek Miedema

• Drie sterke vrouwen (Trois femmes puissantes) by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jeanne Holierhoek (De Geus)

• Zomerleugens (���dz��������ü�����) by Bernhard Schlink, translated from the German by Nelleke van Maaren (Cossee)

• Halfschaduw (Halbschatten) by Uwe Timm, translated from the German by Gerrit Bussink (Podium)

• De werkplaats van de duivel (Chladnou zemí) by Jáchym Topol, translated from the Czech by Edgar de Bruin (Ambo І Anthos)

The European Literature Prize will be awarded in 2011 for the first time, recognizing the best novel translated into Dutch from another European language and published in 2010. The winning author will receive the sum of €10,000. The prize is unusual in that it is also awarded to the translator of the chosen book; he or she will receive €2,500.

The professional jury is as follows:

Frans Timmermans, member of the House of Representatives, former Secretary of State for European Affairs (chairman)

Marja Pruis, writer and literary critic for De Groene Amsterdammer

Guido Snel, university lecturer University of Amsterdam, department of European Studies, writer and literary translator

Herm Pol, Athenaeum booksellers Amsterdam

Edith Aerts, bookstore De Groene Waterman, Antwerp

The jury will announce the shortlist at the end of April 2011. The European Literature Prize is an initiative of the Academic-Cultural Centre SPUI25, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer and Athenaeum Booksellers. The prize is sponsored in part by the following independent bookshops, which have also participated in the selection process:

Amsterdam
Antwerpen
Delft
Haarlem
Amsterdam
Sittard
Utrecht
Den Haag
Rotterdam
Gouda
Bergen N-H
Amsterdam
Amsterdam