By Jane Bentham, Lucy Clark, Rob Tomlinson and Megha Alam
2024 is shaping up to be a great year for books in translation, with many new works from a wide range of countries and languages set to be published in English. Here is just a small selection of the new releases to look out for this year!
Your Utopia by Bora Chung, translated from Korean by Anton Hur
This highly anticipated release by Bora Chung follows the success of her short story collection, Cursed Bunny, which was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. Here, Chung’s short stories are similarly thrilling and absurd, focusing on the concerns of the modern age, such as technological advancements, gender equality and pandemics. Combining elements of sci-fi, horror and speculative fiction, Your Utopia is a thought-provoking work that you won’t be able to forget.
Your Utopia will be published in January 2024.
Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, translated from Spanish by Heather Cleary
Perfect for readers of gothic horror, this feminist vampire tale follows the interconnected stories of two women in Buenos Aires across two different time periods: a vampire fleeing Europe to seek safety in 19th century South America, and a woman crumbling under the pressure of caring for her son and ill mother in the modern day. As the women’s lives intertwine, we are presented with a hauntingly intimate examination of desire, passion and loneliness. Thirst is the first work by Argentinian author Marina Yuszczuk to be published in English and will be released in the UK in October 2024.
Cult by Camilla Läckberg and Henrik Fexeus, translated from Swedish by Ian Giles
If you’re a fan of thrillers such as Gone Girl, Billions or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, then Läckberg and Fexeus’s latest Nordic noir is a must-read. This exciting new release drops you straight into the terrifying action, as the book begins with a young boy being snatched from his Stockholm nursery and vanishing without a trace. From this moment on, it is a race against time as Detective Mina Dabiri tries to track down the young boy but soon uncovers an even darker reality. A suspenseful and psychological thriller that will keep you hooked, this is a gripping read to start the new year.
Cult will be published in January 2024.
Change: A Novel by Édouard Louis, translated from French by John Lambert
February 2024 sees the release of a major new novel from the international bestselling author Édouard Louis. This novel presents a poignant tale of a man longing to leave behind his life of poverty, discrimination and violence in search of a better life. He seeks his escape firstly through attending university in Paris, then continues by dining with aristocrats and spending nights with millionaires and drug-dealers. His motivation? To change everything about himself and become someone completely new. This novel is a thought-provoking reflection of the realities of life that divide us, such as class, power and inequality.
Change: A Novel will be published in February 2024.
The Book of All Loves by Agustín Fernández Mallo, translated from Spanish by Thomas Bunstead
Forthcoming from Fitzcarraldo Editions, The Book of All Loves is an experimental novel that blends fiction with philosophy and a discussion of relationships with meditations on artificial intelligence. Set in a dystopian future in which the end of humanity is rapidly approaching, a couple iteratively explore every aspect of their love, weaving through their spiralling and intertwining dialogue a tapestry of what it means to be human in the 21st century. In the mould of Borges or Bolaño, Mallo captures the beauty and complexity of life and its intersection with technology, presenting love to us in an unfamiliar and novel way, in order that it be renewed.
The Book of All Loves will be published in February 2024.
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated from Japanese by Eric Ozawa
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a follow-up to the simple yet captivating Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Following the same characters and setting, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a continuation of the previous book, deepening the reader’s connection with the Morisaki Bookshop and the characters of Takako and Satoru as they encounter new people and navigate new dilemmas, especially the one concerning the question of whether to close their beloved bookshop or not.
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop will be published in July 2024.