Animalia by Jean-Baptiste de Amo has won the 2020 Republic of Consciousness prize. The Republic of Consciousness supports, promotes and celebrates small presses in the UK and Ireland. We have awarded over £40,000 through our prize in four years to publishers and authors. This years judges were Roland Gulliver, Sophie Lewis and Sam Mills. The prize is shared between the publisher, author and translator. This year, Fitzcarraldo became the first publisher to win the prize twice.
In their summation the jury said:
“Frank Wynne – one of the best translators working today – does a masterful job of capturing Jean-Baptiste Del Amo’s rich, lyrical and inventive style as he explores the (mis)fortunes of a peasant farming family in France across five generations, against a backdrop of war, economic disaster and industrialisation. This is no pastoral – it is a savage and brutal book, replete with sex and violence, which is also spellbinding, strange and immersive.”
Although it means leaving behind the community of disciples who have followed him on his travels and assembled at his raves and gatherings, Vernon Subutex is compelled to return to Paris to visit the dentist.
