Each year the International Booker Prize introduces readers to the best novels and short story collections from around the globe that have been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland. The prize recognises the vital work of translators with the £50,000 prize money divided equally: £25,000 for the author and £25,000 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). In addition, there is a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators).

About the shortlist:

• Six languages (Dutch, German, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish), six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden) and three continents (Asia, Europe and South America) are represented 
• Chair of judges Eleanor Wachtel says: ‘Our shortlist, while implicitly optimistic, engages with current realities of racism and oppression, global violence and ecological disaster’ 
• International Booker Prize Administrator Fiammetta Rocco adds: ‘The books cast a forensic eye on divided families and divided societies, revisiting pasts both recent and distant to help make sense of the present’ 
• Among the authors and translators, nine women and four men are shortlisted 
• Several countries on the shortlist have a strong International Booker Prize pedigree: South Korea is represented for the third year running and Argentina for the fourth time in five years  
• Itamar Viera Junior is shortlisted for his debut novel and Hwang Sok-yong is shortlisted for his ninth book translated into English. Previously longlisted authors Hwang and Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Sora Kim-Russell progress to the shortlist for the first time 
• Five of the books are published by independents, including two books published by Scribe UK. Indies have won the prize six times out of eight since 2016