2015 is about to come to an end, and we couldn't be prouder of our authors! Many great novels have been published within the year, and also many have been longlisted, shortlisted and won prizes worldwide. Here's a small summary of the year:
THE FISHERMEN by Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma has had an outstanding 2015, having been a finalist for more prizes than any other Pontas debut novel:
Winner of the FT/Oppenheimer Emerging Voices 2015 Fiction Award
Only debut novelist shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize
Shortlisted for the 2015 Guardian First Book Award
Shortlisted for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Shortlisted for the NAACP award for best debut book
Selected as one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers 2015
Indonesian writer Eka Kurniawan, author of one of the novels of the year BEAUTY IS A WOUND, has also been selected as one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers 2015!
Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila's debut novel TRAM 83 has been shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature 2015, being the first francophone African writer to be a finalist for this prize; and also has been shortlisted for the French Voices Award!
In other prize lists for African literature: South African author ZP Dala made the longlist to the Etisalat Prize for Literature 2015 and won the Debut Prize in the Minara Aziz Hassim Literary Award with her debut novel WHAT ABOUT MEERA. Imraan Coovadia, another powerful literary voice from South Africa, has also made the longlist of the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Award with his novel TALES OF THE METRIC SYSTEM.
Swedish crime and suspense has been on the spotlight too! TRUTH IS A PERSONAL MATTER (#1 in the Kouplan series) by Sara Lövestam has just won the Deckarakademin's Award (Swedish Crime Writers' Academy) for the Best Debut Crime Novel. This is a very prestigious award in Sweden; in recent years authors such as Asa Larsson, Thomas Engström, Johan Theorin, etc., have also received this award at the start of their careers! And Olivier Truc keeps receiving awards for FORTY DAYS WITHOUT SHADOW (Le Dernier Lapon). In 2015, he's been awarded Prix littéraire Complètement livres! and the Prix AVF Ploemeur Sillage.
The Italian translation of THE HOUSE OF SILENCE (La casa del silenci), La vita in ogni respiro (Edizioni Piemme), by Catalan author Blanca Busquets got the Alghero Donna Prize 2015.
Peruvian author Claudia Salazar Jiménez was distinguished with the Excellence Award - XX Tumi USA 2015, for her literary work and her commitment to Peruvian culture. This very prestigious award is given by the most prominent Peruvian community in the United States ─it's good to remember that last year she got the Prize Las Américas for her debut novel BLOOD OF THE DAWN (La sangre de la aurora).
American writer Winnie M Li was the runner-up for a CWA Debut Dagger for her manuscript DARK CHAPTER, and she has also been shortlisted for the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize which is awarded to to recognise women working against male violence.
Last but not least, 'the queen of the Baztan valley' Dolores Redondo made the shortlist of the CWA International Dagger Award 2015 with THE INVISIBLE GUARDIAN, published in English by HarperCollins in the UK and Atria/Simon&Schuster in the US. Dolores Redondo also ends 2015 as the most bestselling author in Spanish in the crime and suspense genre.
