Eva Baltasar is the first writer of Catalan literature running for the prestigious International Booker Prize, awarded annually since 2005 for works by authors from abroad widely published in the United Kingdom. Boulder is included in the Longlist of books eligible for the International Booker Prize 2023, a total of 13 works by authors such as Laurent Mauvignier, Guadalupe Nettel, Vigdis Hjorth, Andrei Kurkov, Maryse Condé and Cheong Myeong-Kwan.
The translation into English of Boulder is signed by Julia Sanches and printed in UK by An Other Stories. The winner book receives 50.000 GB pounds to split between the author and the translator.
Boulder was originally published in Catalan three years ago, and has sold over 20.000 copies since then. The book is billed as part of a triptych together with "Permagel" and "Mamut" and has also been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, German, Danish and Greek.
Eva Baltasar was one of the authors of the Spotlight, the focus on Catalan culture organized by the IRL at the London Book Fair in 2022. The event aimed to enhance the translations into English of Catalan literature authors and to promote the authors already published into English. Programmes such as the Spotlight are part of what makes possible an achievement like this.
The shortlist will be announced on April 18th. The winner will be known on May 23rd, during a ceremony at London Sky Garden.