Happy Stories, Mostly is longlisted for the International Booker Prize

Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu and translated by Tiffany Tsao has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022.

The book, which is Pasaribu’s first work of fiction and his second book translated from Indonesian into English by Tsao, is one of thirteen books on the longlist.

The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. Happy Stories, Mostly was submitted by Tilted Axis Press, which published the UK edition in 2021.

On the Booker Prizes website, the book is described as a ‘powerful blend of science fiction, absurdism and alternative-historical realism that aims to destabilise the heteronormative world and expose its underlying rot.’

The longlist was announced on 10 March 2022. The shortlist of six will be announced on 7 April and the winners of the prize will be named on 26 May 2022.