By Yoon Sojung

Writer Han Kang, winner of the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, has once again been nominated as a candidate for the prize this year for her new book “The White Book.”

The Booker Prize Foundation announced on March 12 a list of 13 authors who are candidates for the prize this year, including Han Kang and Antonio Muñoz Molina from Spain, among others.

“The White Book” contains a total of 65 short stories about everything white, including quilts and clothes for new-born infants, sugar cubes and rice. The book is told by the woman “I” and her older sister “She.” The older sister was born and then died within two hours after her mother gave birth at the age of 23. In the three-part book composed of “I,” “She” and “Everything White,” Han tells stories about things that never get dirty or never get damaged by anything and that exist inside the human soul.

The book was translated by Deborah Smith who also translated Han’s award-winning book “Vegetarian.” It's published by Portobello Books, the same publisher as “Vegetarian.”

The English version, titled “The White Book,” was released in November last year. After its release, the book received much attention from both local media outlets and readers. The U.K. paper The Guardian even selected the book as its “Book of the Day” in the same month it was released.

The Booker Foundation will announce a shortlist of six nominees on April 12. The final winner will be announced on May 22.

The Man Booker Prize is regarded as one of the three most prestigious prizes in world literature, along with Novel Literature Prize and the Prix Goncourt. The Booker Foundation has been awarding the prize to authors of English literature since 1969. The Man Booker International Prize was introduced in 2005.

arete@korea.kr