Booker Prize 2020: Dutch writer becomes youngest winner for ‘The Discomfort of Evening’

The novel, The Discomfort Of Evening which is written by the author, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and was translated from Dutch, went on to win the 2020 International Booker Prize. The novel has been translated by Michele Hutchinson and grabbed this prestigious award on Wednesday that is on August 26, 2020. Marieke also turned out to be the youngest recipient of the award at the age of 29. 

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The winner was announced by Ted Hodgkinson

The prize money of £50,000 will be split between Marieke and Michele to recognize the efforts of both the novelist and the translator. The Discomfort of Evening was announced as the winner of the Booker Prize 2020, by the panelist Ted Hodgkinson at a digital event. The novel was chosen from a list of six other books through a process which was called rigorous by the organizers. The judges' panel also had five other panelists along with Hodgkinson who is also the Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre. 

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In a statement to the press, Hodgkinson went on to say that they had set themselves with the immense task of selecting a winner for the Booker Prize 2020, amongst their 'superb shortlists.' He also went on to describe all the shortlisted books wherein he mentioned that all of them had fiction bold enough to upend mythical foundations. He further stated that they were looking for a book against an extraordinary backdrop, went beyond echoing the dystopian present, and had a 'timeless' charge.

He described the novel, The Discomfort Of Evening to be a tender and visceral evocation of a childhood which is caught between shame and salvation. He further added that the novel combines a disarming new sensibility along with a translation of a singular sensitivity. He called the novel a 'deeply deserving winner' of the Booker Prize 2020. 

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Marieke Lucas Rijneveld earlier won big for Calfskin

Talking about the author, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, she was born in April 1991, in Nieuwendijk, in the Netherlands. She had grown up in a farming family in North Brabant before shifting to Utrecht. She was also bestowed with an award for her poem, Calfskin.