The International Booker Prize 2024 To Kairos By Jenny Erpenbeck
The International Booker Prize has announced its winner of the year. Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, has been named the one by Eleanor Wachtel, Chair of the 2024 judges, at a ceremony held at London’s Tate Modern on Tuesday, 21 May.
Jenny Erpenbeck became the first German writer to win it, meanwhile Michael Hofmann became the first male translator to win.
"It’s a private story of a big love and its decay, but it’s also a story of the dissolution of a whole political system. Simply put: How can something that seems right in the beginning, turn into something wrong?" - Jenny Erpenbeck commented on her Kairos.
Erpenbeck’s novel, which was originally written in German, follows a destructive affair between a young student and an older writer in 1980s East Berlin, with the two lovers seemingly embodying East Germany’s crushed idealism. A meditation on hope and disappointment, Kairos poses complex questions about freedom, loyalty, love and power.
According to Eleanor Wachtel, Chair of the 2024 judges, "What makes Kairos so unusual is that it is both beautiful and uncomfortable, personal and political. Erpenbeck invites you to make the connection between these generation-defining political developments and a devastating, even brutal love affair, questioning the nature of destiny and agency. Like the GDR, it starts with optimism and trust, then unravels."
149 books were submitted to the International Booker Prize this year, the largest number ever. Kairos was announced the winner from the shortlist of six novels.
Last year Time Shelter by Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel, has won the Prize.
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