Georgi Gospodinov Wins International Booker Prize 2023 For Dark Comic Memory Novel 'Time Shelter'
The literary world is celebrating the announcement of the International Booker Prize 2023 winner: Georgi Gospodinov, the acclaimed Bulgarian author of Time Shelter. The novel, translated by Angela Rodel, is a darkly comic exploration of memory, trauma and identity in the aftermath of communism and the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
Time Shelter follows the narrator, a middle-aged writer who suffers from a rare condition that causes him to lose his memory every time he sneezes. To cope with his fragmented existence, he creates a shelter in his basement where he collects objects, stories and memories from different eras and places. He also embarks on a quest to find his long-lost father, who disappeared during the political turmoil of the 1980s.
The novel is a kaleidoscopic journey through history, culture and literature, blending humor, satire and emotion. Gospodinov draws on various genres and influences, from science fiction and dystopia to fairy tales and mythology. He also references many writers and thinkers, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud and Marcel Proust.
The judges praised Time Shelter as a "masterpiece of imagination and storytelling", and hailed Gospodinov as "one of the most original and inventive voices in contemporary literature". They also commended Rodel's translation as "flawless and faithful", capturing the nuances and complexities of the original text.
Gospodinov is the first Bulgarian writer to win the prestigious prize, which honors the best translated fiction from around the world. He will share the £50,000 award with his translator. He expressed his gratitude and surprise at receiving the prize, saying that he never expected to reach such a wide and diverse audience with his novel.
Time Shelter is Gospodinov's fourth novel, and his second to be translated into English. His previous works include Natural Novel (1999), The Physics of Sorrow (2012) and The Story Smuggler (2018). He is also a poet, essayist and playwright, and teaches literature at Sofia University.
