French-Senegalese author David Diop’s debut novel At Night All Blood is Black has been shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize.  This is coming days after Diop won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

The prize celebrates the best fiction from around the world translated into English from a foreign language and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

David Diop’s novel was translated into English by American poet and novelist Anna Moschovakis. The novel centers on the lives of Senegalese soldiers who fought for France during World War I. It was published last year by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 

The judging panel, chaired by cultural historian and novelist Lucy Hughes-Hallett, includes journalist Aida Edemariam, Man Booker shortlisted novelist Neel Mukherjee, Professor of the History of Slavery Olivette Otele, and poet George Szirtes.

The winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize will be announced on 2 June 2021 in an online ceremony from Coventry UK City of Culture 2021.