©Hugo Glendinning for the Booker Prize
Eleanor Wachtel
Eleanor Wachtel has earned a reputation as one of the world’s best literary interviewers through more than 30 years hosting Writers & Company on CBC Radio. Five books of her interviews have been published, including The Best of Writers & Company. She also co-founded and hosted Wachtel on the Arts and the Toronto International Film Festival’s popular Books on Film series for more than a decade. Wachtel has earned numerous accolades for her contributions to Canadian cultural life: nine honorary degrees and Officer of the Order of Canada.
Interviews with Eleanor Wachtel
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1
Not a River: A Novel
by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott -
2
Crooked Plow: A Novel
by Itamar Vieira Junior, translated by Johnny Lorenz -
3
Mater 2-10
by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell & Youngjae Josephine Bae -
4
What I’d Rather Not Think About
by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey -
5
Kairos
by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann -
6
The Details: A Novel
by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson
The Best Novels in Translation: The 2024 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Eleanor Wachtel
The Best Novels in Translation: The 2024 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Eleanor Wachtel
Every year, the judges for the International Booker Prize read dozens of novels newly translated into English before compiling their shortlist of the very best. We spoke to the Canadian broadcaster Eleanor Wachtel—who chaired this year’s jury—about the six books they’ve selected in 2024: from a slim, elliptical Swedish novel about contemporary relationships to a multi-generational epic set in 20th-century Korea.
