‘El port de les aromes’, de John Lanchester Premi Llibreter 2005

John Lanchester’s ‘Fragrant Harbour’ has been granted Premi Llibreter 2005 (Booksellers Prize 2005), awarded by Catalan Booksellers Corporation, that is going to be issued in Catalan by Edicions 62, starting July 1. The work is a choral novel, set in Hong Kong, considered by publisher Jorge Herralde an excellent piece of literature.

Among the finalists there were ‘Schopenhauer’s Telescope’ by Gerard Donovan (Tusquets), ‘Independent People’ by Halldór Laxness (Turner), ‘Lighthousekeeping’ by Jeanette Winterson (Lumen), ‘Skin and Bones’ by Georges Hyvernaud (la Campana), ‘Gray Souls’ by Philippe Claudel (la Magrana), and ‘Reconstruction’, by Antonio Orejudo (Tusquets).

There is also an award for the best children illustrated book, granted this year to ‘Volem que tornin les vaques boges!’ (‘We Want the Mad Cows Back!’) by Catalan Carles Arbat (text and pictures), published by Valencian Diálogo.