Pauline Fan (left) and YZ Chin have been shortlisted for the inaugural PEN Presents x International Booker Prize, a grant programme to support translators from the global majority. Photos: Pauline Fan and Joanna Eldredge Morrissey
Pauline Fan, a Kuala Lumpur-based translator-writer, and YZ Chin, a Malaysian-born writer residing in New York, have been shortlisted for the inaugural edition of the PEN Presents x International Booker Prize - a grant programme established in 2024 to support literary translators from the global majority.
The selected works, which will be translated into English from their original languages, are The Last Days Of Jesselton by Ruhaini Matdarin, to be translated from Bahasa Malaysia by Fan, and Storied Ruins by Teng Kuan Kiat, to be translated from Chinese by Chin.
“I am delighted to be translating Ruhaini's novel – I consider Ruhaini one of the most engaging and important writers of contemporary Malay literature. I’m also proud to be in the company of all the incredible translators on the shortlist – five are from South-East Asia!” says Fan.
Originally published in 2018 by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Hari-Hari Terakhir Di Jesselton (The Last Days Of Jesselton) is a WWII-era novel by Sabah-born Ruhaini, set against the backdrop of a theatre troupe in Japanese-occupied Kota Kinabalu (then known as Jesselton).
"When I first read Ruhaini's novel, I was struck by it's vibrant, cinematic style and fascinating subject. I immediately felt it would translate well into English. Through lively and evocative storytelling, the novel reflects on the absurdities of history, the unpredictable passage of time, and the dilemmas of human action when nothing goes quite as planned," she adds.
"I was particularly drawn to the novel's focus on the Malay Bangsawan theatre, an element seldom explored in modern Malay literature. Ruhaini's portrayal of an itinerant Bangsawan troupe in the 1940s offers readers a glimpse into the inner workings of this once-popular traditional art form, shedding light on its cultural significance while weaving it seamlessly into the narrative."
Fan explains that the theatrical setting also enables the use of the "play within a play" narrative device, which she says Ruhaini employs masterfully to draw parallels between the power struggles on stage and the political machinations occurring behind the scenes.
"The theatre becomes a powerful metaphor for the 'theatre of war' itself, where grand performances mask the brutal realities of conquest and survival," she says.
Fan recently translated a selection of short stories by Kelantan-born author Fatimah Busu from Bahasa Malaysia into English for the collection An Ordinary Tale About Women And Other Stories, making Fatimah’s work accessible to a broader readership.
Chin, who grew up in Taiping, Perak, is the author of Edge Case (2021), a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and Though I Get Home (2018), a debut short story collection which won the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize in the United States.
She has also translated Mahua works - Malaysian fiction written in Chinese - including the Taiwanese bestseller The Age Of Goodbyes by Ipoh-born author Li Zi Shu, into English in 2022. In January this year, Chin also received a US$20,000 (RM88,000) grant from the US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support her English translation of This Timeworn Land, another Mahua work by Li Zi Shu.
Chin’s translation of Malaysian writer Teng’s Storied Ruins marks another contribution to the growing body of Mahua literature available in English.
In its shortlist announcement, English PEN noted that “while the representation of authors from the global majority is increasing, translators from the global majority remain significantly underrepresented.”
The prize was launched in 2024 to address this disparity by funding and promoting the work of global translators so that more literature in translation reaches English-language readers.
This year’s shortlist features 12 titles, 13 translators, nine languages, and nine territories. This is the first time the English PEN translation grants programme has supported work originally published in Bahasa Malaysia, as well as multiple projects from Malaysia.
Translators from the global majority, based anywhere in the world, were invited to submit proposals to create sample translations of previously untranslated works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories by any author, from any language and region, and of any style, genre and era.
Shortlisted translators will each receive £500 (RM2,918) grants to create 5,000-word sample translations of their proposed projects. Independent assessors, drawn from English PEN’s pool of established literary translators, will then evaluate the samples and original works before the selection panel selects six projects as the winners.
The winning translators will receive editorial support, working with English PEN, editors, and experienced translators on their samples, with the winners announced and the samples published and promoted to British publishers in the summer.
The shortlist was selected by a cross-sector panel of seven experts, chaired by Preti Taneja, writer, Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing at Newcastle University, and English PEN translation advisory co-chair.
“The PEN Presents selection panel – a group with diverse expertise, backgrounds and opinions – considers each proposal carefully, in several rounds, using rigorous criteria," says Preti.
"We are proud to announce this outstanding shortlist, which recognises both the literary quality of the projects and translations, and the contribution to bibliodiversity that each project will make. I can’t wait to see how these projects develop, and I’m delighted to support them to reach new readers across the world," she adds.
PEN Presents supports and showcases sample translations, funding the often-unpaid work of creating samples and giving British publishers access to titles from underrepresented languages and regions, while the International Booker Prize is the world’s most influential award for translated fiction, each year awarding the best work of fiction translated into English and published in Britain and/or Ireland.
