The shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize 2019 is almost entirely in the hands of women: five of the six nominated books were written by female authors, even all six translated by women into English. The previous year's winner, Olga Tokarczuk from Poland, could create an unprecedented title defense.

In 2018 Tokarczuk won the prestigious award for "Bieguni" (published in German under the title "Unrast") and shared the prize money of £ 50,000 with translator Jennifer Croft. Her 2019 nominated book "Prowad swój pug przez koci umarych", however, was translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Agnieszka Hollands filming came in 2018 as "The Spur" in German cinemas.

An original German-language title was recently shortlisted in 2016 - "A Whole Life" by Robert Seethaler from Austria. Now the jury decided to leave the novel "The Pine Islands" by Marion Poschmann in the shortlist. The author, born in Essen in 1969, was also on the shortlist for the German Book Prize with the novel 2017, which plays in Japan.

Here is the list of the six nominees:

  • Jokha Alharthi (Oman), translated from Arabic by Marilyn Booth: "Celestial Bodies"
  • Annie Ernaux (France), translated from French by Alison L. Strayer: "The Years" (in German: "Die Jahre", Suhrkamp 2017)
  • Marion Poschmann (Germany), translated from German by Jen Calleja: "The Pine Islands" (in the original: "The Pine Islands", Suhrkamp 2017)
  • Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones: "Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead" (in German: "The Song Of The Bats", Schöffling & Co 2011)
  • Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombia), translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean: "The Shape Of The Ruins" (in German: "The shape of the ruins", Schöffling & Co 2018)
  • Alia Trabucco Zerán (Chile), translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes: "The Remainder"

The Man Booker International Prize has been awarded since 2016 on the model of the Man Booker Prize for English-language original titles for pre-selection (longlist and shortlist) for a single literary prose work, which has been translated into English. Before 2016, he was awarded for the life's work. The winning title will be announced on 21 May at a gala dinner in London.