For the first time this year, the award went jointly to the translator, Deborah Smith , 28, who only stared learning Korean three years before she embarked on the translation.
“This was the first book that I ever translated, and the best possible thing that can happen to a translator has just happened the me,” an emotional Smith said.
“when I was 22 I decided to teach myself Korean… I felt that was limited by only being able to speak English. I’d always read a lot of translations, and you get the sense of this whole world being out there, very different stories,” she said.
“If felt as thought I looked up almost every other word in the dictionary. If felt a bit like climbing a mountain. But at the same time just falling into this world that was so atmospheric and disturbing and moving – it was a wonderful experience.” The international of Britain’s Man Booker Prize was introduced in 2005 and up to now has been awarded in recognition of body of work by a living author whose work was written or available in English.