Nothing gets lost in translation for Brits

SPEAKING of all things literary, an interesting email dropped into my inbox this week from the good people at the Man Booker International Prize.

Research commissioned on behalf of the prestigious literary gong has revealed that translated books are flying off the shelves in bookshops across the Irish Sea.

Overall sales of translated fiction in the UK were up last year by 5.5pc, but it seems our nearest neighbours have particularly high-brow tastes, with translated literary fiction enjoying a massive 20pc bump in sales.

And while languages growing in demand include Chinese and Arabic, as well as Icelandic and Polish, it was to the continent that most readers were drawn, with French novels in translations accounting for 17pc of volume sales.

Fiammetta Rocco, administrator of the Man Booker International Prize, seemed particularly happy about the news: “Reading fiction is one of the best ways we have of putting ourselves in other people’s shoes. The rise in sales of translated fiction shows how hungry British readers are for terrific writing from other countries.”

In light of the looming Brexit deadline and the rising tide of anti-EU sentiment that has brought our neighbours to this crisis point, I guess it could be seen as a timely reminder that for all the Union Jackwielding, EU-hating xenophobia we see splashed across the newspapers, there are still plenty of people across the Irish Sea interested in learning about the world beyond their own borders.