Zoo City Nominated for Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (Plus: Interview with Joey Hi-Fi and Lauren Beukes)
Alert! This morning we learned from Twitter that Lauren Beukes‘ acclaimed novel, Zoo City, has been nominated for three of France’s esteemed Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire awards in the categories Best Foreign Novel, Best Translation and Best Cover Design, marking something of a coup for SA lit.
Zoo City will compete for Best Foreign Novel against Aliette de Bodard’s Servant of the Underworld, China Miéville’s The City & the City, The Philosopher’s Apprentice by James Morrow and Dan Simmons’ Drood.
Meanwhile Lawrence Philibert-Caillat is up against Patrick Dusoulier (Surface Detail by Ian M Banks and Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde), Mélanie Fazi (Thus are born the ghosts by Lisa Tuttle and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson), Nathalie Mege (The City & the City by China Miéville) and Philippe Rouard (The Philosopher’s Apprentice by James Morrow) for his translation of Zoo City into French. Lastly, Joey Hi-Fi – aka Dale Halvorsen – has been nominated for his stunning Zoo City cover art alongside Nicolas Fructus for Le Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shepard, Bastien L for The Desmolished Man by Alfred Bester and Diego Tripodi for Osama the Gun by Norman Spinrad.
The winners will be announced on Saturday, 26 May, at the Etonnants Voyageurs (Amazing Travellers) Festival in Saint-Malo.
Hi-Fi also won a British Science Fiction Association award last year for his Zoo City cover and has since produced several other eye-catching designs, most recently for The Big Stick by Richard de Nooy and The Institute for Taxi Poetry by Imraan Coovadia. He has also done all of Beukes’ covers since she debuted with Maverick in 2004.
City Press‘s Charl Blignaut spoke to Hi-Fi and Beukes about their history of collaboration and the appeal of Zoo City‘s award-winning design:
There’s a pause when I ask Joey Hi-Fi if doors have opened since he won a British Science Fiction Association award last year for his cover art for Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City.
“Not really, no. I suppose I got, like, more respect, that’s the upside. It’s hard in South Africa, working as a book-cover designer. It’s not very lucrative and it’s tough to get new ideas out. I’m also selective about my jobs. I prefer to do things that haven’t been done before.”
Book details
- Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
EAN: 9781770098183
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- Maverick: Extraordinary women from South Africa’s past by Lauren Beukes
EAN: 9781770070509
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- Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
EAN: 9780857662705
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- Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
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EAN: 9781770095670
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- The Big Stick by Richard de Nooy
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EAN: 9781431402687
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- The Institute for Taxi Poetry by Imraan Coovadia
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EAN: 9781415201657
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Apr
