Mircea Cărtărescu, a Romanian writer, claims the 2024 Dublin Literary Award, the world’s largest for a novel written in English, for his work “Solenoid.” The award, backed by the Dublin City Council, comes with a €100,000 total prize, out of which €75,000 will go to Cărtărescu and the remaining €25,000 will be given to his translator, Seán Cotter. Notably, this is the twelfth time a translated novel has seized this honour, the nominees for which are put forward by public libraries across the globe.
“Solenoid” finds its roots in Cărtărescu’s experience as a high school teacher and presents an authentic picture of communist Romania’s everyday life during the late 70s and early 80s. It starts off as a simple diary entry, but soon evolves into a deep reflection on life, history, and philosophy.
The award’s judges praised the novel as “profoundly creative, thought-provoking, and poetic,” highlighting the exceptional work of Seán Cotter in the translation that enables English-speaking readers to appreciate Cărtărescu’s talent. These details came into light during the International Literature Festival Dublin where Fort’s win was declared.
Cărtărescu, whose literary portfolio includes more than 25 books and translations into 23 languages, regarded this award as one of his most important achievements, underscoring its role in boosting his reputation in the English-speaking literary realm. He expressed his gratitude towards the jury for selecting his novel.
Cotter, who serves as a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas and has translated 11 books, expressed his honour of being acknowledged alongside an esteemed author like Cărtărescu. He also paid tribute to the community of Romanian translators and those engaged in translating underserved literatures.
The evaluation committee was headed by Trinity College Dublin’s Professor Chris Morash. The other panel members consisted of Ingunn Snædal, Daniel Medin, Lucy Collins, Anton Hur, and Irenosen Okojie.
[John Self provides analysis and critique on the six books shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award 2024]
John Self, in his critique of Solenoid, portrayed the book as an “impossible to succinctly describe colossus” that “strikes a delicate equilibrium between leaving the reader in awe and overburdening them. It’s perfect for those with a penchant for the output of Nobel laureates – a narrative that is internal, entrancing, quintessentially European, where storyline can be seen as a middle-class extravagance.”
Published by Deep Vellum, the book managed to outshine five other titles shortlisted, such as Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry and Haven by Emma Donoghue. The nominating party for Solenoid was “Octavian Goga” Cluj County Library, located in Romania. The only book from the shortlist that was translated, Solenoid becomes the first ever Romanian-translated work to win the accolade since it was first established 29 years ago.
Readers can borrow copies from libraries in Dublin, throughout Ireland, or in ebook form through their BorrowBox service.