The Twin, by Gerbrand Bakker, a translated Dutch title, has won this year's International IMPAC Literary Award. The winner was announced at a ceremony in Dublin on 17 June.
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is managed by Dublin City Libraries, on behalf of Dublin City Council. It is sponsored by IMPAC, an international management productivity company with its European headquarters in Dublin.
The Twin, was first published in Australia by Scribe in September 2008 and was translated into English by Adelaide-born translator David Colmer. Since moving to Amsterdam in the early 1990s, Colmer has published a wide range of translations of Dutch literature. He is also a published author of fiction, and in 2009 was awarded the biennial NSW Premier’s Translation Prize.
David Colmer said of the win, 'The great thing about this prize is that it’s the only major prize where translated novels compete on an equal basis with books that were originally written in English. That’s every translator’s goal, really, for the book to come to life in the new language and for no qualifications to be necessary. It’s also fantastic that this is a library prize. Almost all of the books I read when I was growing up were library books and the value of libraries can’t be underestimated, so for me the fact that this recognition is coming from the world’s libraries makes it even more valuable.'
The IMPAC Award is presented annually with the objective of promoting excellence in world literature. It is open to novels written in any language and by authors of any nationality, provided the work has been published in English or English translation in the specified time period as outlined in the rules and conditions for the year. Nominations are submitted by library systems in major cities throughout the world.
The award is worth 75,000 euros to the author, and 25,000 euros to the translator. ![I]()
