The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper The Independent to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched in 1990 and ran for five years before falling into abeyance. It was revived in 2001 with the financial support of Arts Council England. Beginning in 2011 the administration of the prize was taken over by BookTrust, but retaining the "Independent" in the name. In 2015, the award was disbanded in a "reconfiguration" in which it was merged with the Man Booker International Prize.
Entries (fiction or short stories) were published in English translation in the UK in the year preceding the award by a living author. The prize acknowledged both the winning novelist and translator, each being awarded £5,000 and a magnum of champagne from drinks sponsor Champagne Taittinger.
Winners, shortlists and longlists
1990 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal title Winner Orhan Pamuk Turkish Victoria Holbrook The White CastleBeyaz Kale
1991 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal title Winner Milan Kundera Czech Peter Kussi ImmortalityNesmrtelnost
1992 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner Simon Leys French Patricia Clancy The Death of NapoleonLa Mort de Napoléon Shortlist Slavenka Drakulić Croatian Ellen Elias-Bursać Holograms of FearHologrami straha Paweł Huelle Polish Antonia Lloyd-Jones Who Was David Weiser?Weiser Dawidek Yaşar Kemal Turkish Thilda Kemal To Crush the SerpentYılanı Öldürseler Ivan Klíma Czech A. G. Brain Judge on TrialSoudce z milosti Dacia Maraini Italian Dick KittoElspeth Spottiswood The Silent DuchessLa lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa Carlo Mazzantini Italian Simonetta Wenkert In Search of a Glorious DeathA cercar la bella morte Érik Orsenna French Jeremy Leggatt Love and EmpireL'Exposition coloniale Giorgio Pressburger Italian Piers Spence The Law of White SpacesLa legge degli spazi bianchi Jean Rouaud French Ralph Manheim Fields of GloryLes Champs d'honneur Leonardo Sciascia Italian Joseph FarrellMarie Evans The Knight and DeathIl cavaliere e la morte Antonio Tabucchi Italian Tim Parks Vanishing PointIl filo dell'orizzonte
1993 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner José Saramago Portuguese Giovanni Pontiero The Year of the Death of Ricardo ReisO Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis Shortlist Juan Goytisolo Spanish Helen Lane Makbara Günter Grass German Ralph Manheim The Call of the ToadUnkenrufe Ismail Kadare Albanian Barbara Bray(translation from French) The Palace of DreamsPallati i ëndrrave Ivan Klíma Czech Paul Wilson My Golden TradesMoje zlatá řemesla A. B. Yehoshua Hebrew Hillel Halkin Mr. Maniמר מאני
1994 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner Bảo Ninh Vietnamese Frank PalmosPhan Thanh Hảo The Sorrow of WarNỗi buồn chiến tranh Shortlist Shūsaku Endō Japanese Van C. Gessel Deep River Margriet de Moor Dutch Paul Vincent First Grey, Then White, Then BlueEerst grijs dan wit dan blauw Isabel Allende Spanish Margaret Sayers Peden The Infinite PlanEl plan infinito Amos Oz Hebrew Nicholas de Lange Fimaהמצב השלישי Italo Calvino Italian Tim Parks The Road to San GiovanniLa strada di San Giovanni
1995 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal title Winner Gert Hofmann German Michael Hofmann The Film ExplainerDer Kinoerzähler
1996 to 2000 Prize in abeyance.
2001 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner Marta Morazzoni Italian Emma Rose The Alphonse Courrier AffairIl caso Courrier Shortlist Marc Dugain French Howard Curtis The Officers' WardLa chambre des officiers Michel Houellebecq French Frank Wynne AtomisedLes particules élémentaires Antonio Tabucchi Italian Margaret Sayers Peden The Missing Head of Damasceno MonteiroLa testa perduta di Damasceno Monteiro May Telmissany Arabic Roger Allen Dunyazad Hans-Ulrich Treichel German Carol Brown Janeaway LostDer Verlorene
2002 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner W. G. Sebald German Anthea Bell Austerlitz Shortlist Agnès Desarthe French Adriana Hunter Five Photos of My WifeCinq photos de ma femme Dai Sijie French Ina Rilke Balzac and the Little Chinese SeamstressBalzac et la Petite Tailleuse chinoise Andrey Kurkov Russian George Bird Death and the PenguinСмерть постороннего Hanan al-Shaykh Arabic Catherine Cobham Only in London H.M. van den Brink Dutch Paul Vincent On the WaterOver het water
2003 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner Per Olov Enquist Swedish Tiina Nunnally The Visit of the Royal PhysicianLivläkarens besök Shortlist Frédéric Beigbeder French Adriana Hunter 99 Francs Peter Stephan Jungk German Michael Hofmann The Snowflake ConstantTigor Mario Vargas Llosa Spanish Edith Grossman The Feast of the GoatLa fiesta del Chivo José Saramago Portuguese Margaret Jull Costa The CaveA Caverna José Carlos Somoza Spanish Sonia Soto The Athenian MurdersLa caverna de las ideas Longlist Umberto Eco Italian William Weaver Baudolino Jens Christian Grøndahl Danish Anne Born Lucca Norbert Gstrein German Anthea Bell The English YearsDie englischen Jahre Milton Hatoum Portuguese John Gledson The BrothersDois Irmãos Michel Houellebecq French Frank Wynne PlatformPlateforme Milan Kundera French Linda Asher IgnoranceL'Ignorance Amin Maalouf French Barbara Bray Balthasar's OdysseyLe Périple de Baldassare Patrícia Melo Portuguese Clifford E. Landers Inferno Arturo Pérez-Reverte Spanish Margaret Sayers Peden The Nautical ChartLa carta esférica Atiq Rahimi Dari Erdağ Göknar Earth and Ashes
2004 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner Javier Cercas Spanish Anne McLean Soldiers of SalamisSoldados de Salamina Shortlist Juan Marsé Spanish Nick Caistor Lizard TailsRabos de lagartija Elke Schmitter German Carol Brown Janeway Mrs SartorisFrau Sartoris Ricardo Piglia Spanish Amanda Hopkinson Money to BurnPlata quemada Luther Blissett Italian Shaun Whiteside Q Mahi Binebine French Lulu Norman Welcome to ParadiseCannibales Longlist Lars Saabye Christensen Norwegian Kenneth Stevens The Half BrotherHalvbroren Gil Courtemanche French Patricia Claxton A Sunday at the Pool in KigaliUn dimanche à la piscine à Kigali Turki al-Hamad Arabic Robin Bray Adama Javier Marías Spanish Esther Allen Dark Back of TimeNegra espalda del tiempo Sten Nadolny German Ralph Freedman The Discovery of SlownessDie Entdeckung der Langsamkeit Per Petterson Norwegian Anne Born In the WakeI kjølvannet Shan Sa French Adriana Hunter The Girl Who Played GoLa joueuse de go Fred Vargas French David Bellos Have Mercy on Us AllPars vite et reviens tard Ye Zhaoyan Mandarin Michael Berry Nanjing 1937: A Love Story一九三七年的爱情 Akira Yoshimura Japanese Mark Ealey One Man's Justice
2005 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titleNotes Winner Frédéric Beigbeder French Frank Wynne Windows on the World Shortlist Chico Buarque Portuguese Alison Entrekin BudapestBudapeste Irina Denezhkina Russian Andrew Bromfield Give Me (Songs for Lovers)Дай мне! Xiaolu Guo Chinese Cindy Carter Village of Stone我心中的石头镇 Orhan Pamuk Turkish Maureen Freely SnowKar Elif Şafak Turkish Müge Göçek The Flea PalaceBit Palas Longlist David Albahari Serbian Ellen Elias-Bursać Götz and MeyerGec i Majer Merete Morken Andersen Norwegian Barbara J. Haveland Oceans of TimeHav av tid Mia Couto Portuguese David Brookshaw The Last Flight of the FlamingoO Último Voo do Flamingo Edgardo Cozarinsky Spanish Nick Caistor The Bride from OdessaLa novia de Odessa Viktor Yerofeyev Russian Andrew Reynolds Life with an IdiotЖизнь с идиотом Turki al-Hamad Arabic Paul Starkey Shumaisi Torgny Lindgren Swedish Tom Geddes HashPölsan Enrico Remmert Italian Aubrey Botsford The Ballad of the Low LifesLa ballata delle canaglie José Saramago Portuguese Margaret Jull Costa The DoubleO Homem Duplicado Carlos Ruiz Zafón Spanish Lucia Graves The Shadow of the WindLa sombra del viento
2006 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titlePublisherJudgesNotes Winner Per Petterson Norwegian Anne Born Out Stealing HorsesUt og stjæle hester Harvill Secker Boyd TonkinPaul BaileyMargaret BusbyMaureen FreelyKate Griffin Shortlist Paweł Huelle Polish Antonia Lloyd-Jones Mercedes-Benz: From Letters to HrabalMercedes-Benz: Z listów do Hrabala Serpent's Tail Tahar Ben Jelloun French Linda Coverdale This Blinding Absence of LightCette aveuglante absence de lumière Penguin Books Imre Kertész Hungarian Tim Wilkinson FatelessnessSorstalanság Harvill Secker Magda Szabó Hungarian Len Rix The DoorAz ajtó Harvill Secker Dubravka Ugrešić Croatian Michael Henry Heim The Ministry of PainMinistarstvo boli Saqi Books Longlist Tonino Benacquista French Adriana Hunter Someone ElseQuelqu'un d'autre Bitter Lemon Press Stefan Chwin Polish Philip Boehm Death in DanzigHanemann Secker & Warburg Philippe Claudel French Adriana Hunter Grey SoulsLes Âmes grises Weidenfeld & Nicolson Marie Darrieussecq French Ian Monk White Faber & Faber Karen Duve German Anthea Bell This Is Not a Love SongDies ist kein Liebeslied Bloomsbury David Grossman Hebrew Jessica Cohen Lovers and Strangers Bloomsbury Judith Hermann German Margot Bettauer Dembo Nothing but GhostsNichts als Gespenster Fourth Estate Ellen Mattson Swedish Sarah Death SnowSnö Jonathan Cape Haruki Murakami Japanese Philip Gabriel Kafka on the Shore Vintage Books Dai Sijie French Ina Rilke Mr. Muo's Travelling CouchLe complexe de Di Chatto & Windus
2007 AwardAuthorCountryLanguageTranslatorTitleOriginal titlePublisherNotes Winner José Eduardo Agualusa Portuguese Daniel Hahn The Book of ChameleonsO Vendedor de Passados Arcadia Books Shortlist Per Olov Enquist Swedish Tiina Nunnally The Story of Blanche and MarieBoken om Blanche och Marie Vintage Vangelis Hatziyannidis Greek Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife Four WallsΟι τέσσερις τοίχοι Marion Boyars Javier Marías Spanish Margaret Jull Costa Your Face Tomorrow 2: Dance and DreamTu rostro mañana 2: Baile y sueño New Directions Eva Menasse German Anthea Bell Vienna Phoenix Dag Solstad Norwegian Sverre Lyngstad Shyness and DignityGenanse og verdighet Graywolf Press Longlist Kader Abdolah Dutch Susan Massotty My Father's NotebookSpijkerschrift Canongate Niccolò Ammaniti Italian Jonathan Hunt Steal You AwayTi prendo e ti porto via Canongate Javier Cercas Spanish Anne McLean The Speed of LightLa velocidad de la luz Bloomsbury Edgardo Cozarinsky Spanish Nick Caistor The Moldavian PimpEl rufián moldavo Harvill Secker Jenny Erpenbeck German Susan Bernofsky The Old ChildGeschichte vom alten Kind Portobello Faïza Guène French Sarah Adams Just Like TomorrowKiffe kiffe demain Chatto & Windus Ismail Kadare Albanian David Bellos(translation from French) The SuccessorPasardhësi Canongate Ma Jian Chinese Flora Drew Stick Out Your Tongue亮出你的舌苔或空空荡荡 Chatto & Windus Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Kikuyu Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Wizard of the CrowMũrogi wa Kagogo Harvill Secker Leonardo Padura Spanish Peter Bush Havana BlackPaisaje de otoño Bitter Lemon Atiq Rahimi Dari Sarah MaguireYama Yari A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear Chatto & Windus José Saramago Portuguese Margaret Jull Costa SeeingEnsaio sobre a Lucidez Harvill Secker Elif Şafak Turkish Brendan Freely The GazeMahrem Marion Boyars Linn Ullmann Norwegian Barbara Haveland GraceNåde Picador
2008