DUNCAN LAWRIE INTERNATIONAL DAGGERWell I've only read the Nesbo and Vargas so far...but I've got some of the others in the tbr. NB. Khadra was also on last year's shortlist.
£5000 prize money for the author and £1000 for the translator, sponsored by Duncan Lawrie Private Bank For crime, thriller, suspense novels or spy fiction which have been translated into English from their original language, for UK publication.
Karin Alvtegen (Sweden) - SHAME - Canongate
translated by Steven T. Murray
Judges' comments: ‘A clever psychological study of a small group of people brought together by shared experiences of abuse which they must now, finally, confront.’
Christian Jungersen (Denmark) - THE EXCEPTION - Weidenfeld & Nicolson
translated by Anna Paterson
Judges' comments: ‘Something completely out of the ordinary: a thought-provoking novel in which workers in a centre monitoring human rights abuses slide into bullying office politics.’
Yasmina Khadra (Algeria) - THE ATTACK - William Heinemann
translated by John Cullen
Judges’ comments: ‘A harrowing psychological novel which explores the motivations of a suicide bomber, and lifts the conventions of the whydunnit.’
Åsa Larsson (Sweden) - THE SAVAGE ALTAR - Viking
translated by Marlaine Delargy
Judges' comment: ‘A fine sense of Northern Sweden with a story of mayhem in a small religious community.’
Jo Nesbø (Norway) - THE REDBREAST - Harvill Secker
translated by Don Bartlett
Judges' comments: ‘Secrets from Norway’s discreditable wartime past resurface when a lone terrorist threatens an assassination.’
Fred Vargas (France) - WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND - Harvill Secker
translated by Sîan Reynolds
Judges' comments: ‘A stylish return to the shortlist for last year’s inventive winner with another unconventional police procedural.’
Judging Panel:
Adrian Muller (non-voting Chair) - freelance journalist and an events organiser specialising in crime fiction
Peter Guttridge - crime writer and the crime fiction reviewer for the Observer
Ruth Morse - has written about post-colonial crime fiction, and is a reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement
Susanna Yager - the crime fiction reviewer for The Sunday Telegraph
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Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The CWA Dagger award shortlists are out of the bag
Sarah on Confessions has a nice summary of the nominees. Zoe Sharp has posted to DorothyL longer descriptions of the nominees and who the judges are etc so I'll start with the one I'm most interested in:
hmmm... that's a good shortlist. Can't see the Vargas winning again, but the Nesbo, I thought, was excellent, and should take it quite easily. I admit to thinking the Larsson was pretty average, and the Alvtegen good also. The other two I haven't read. I'm definitely backing Nesbo though, I think he's first class. (The Main award shortlist is a different matter altogether! I am very perplexed by that indeed.)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting shortlist, with not many traditional PI/police procedurals on it. I've read all except the Alvtegen. The Attack and The Exception are both outstanding and strikingly original.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Redbreast but I have a feeling The Exception might win. I've not read it yet but it's had such a lot of favourable press.
ReplyDeleteLike last year I'll be putting an approximate list together of what books were eligible for the award.