Each year, a committee of ten eminent authors proposes a subjective selection of classical and contemporary works, which may include all literary genres, from novel to poetry or essay – books which, up until now, have not been sufficiently translated or have simply been forgotten. Each writer selects three titles that make up the committee’s “elective affinities”.

The authors in 2014 are Janne Teller, Gonçalo M. Tavares, Angharad Price, Vladimir Arsenijević, Igiaba Scego, László F. Földényi, Olga Tokarczuk, Enzo Traverso, Monique Schwitter & Christos Chrissopoulos.

Mathias Énard about the new Finnegan’s List:
“The beauty of the impossible: in the translation of literature there is something of a magnificent equation without a solution, of an elusive mathematical construction whose terrible complexity we are all too capable of anticipating.
Finnegan’s List is a subversive machine. It sets out to draw attention to works that have been important for one country, one culture, or one author but whose effects haven’t yet been felt in other countries, by other cultures, and by other authors, for several reasons.”

Gonçalo M. Tavares on Carlos de Oliveira: Carlos de Oliveira was someone who never stopped reworking his texts. He was always searching for something that would be the final stage of prose, something that could not be pared down any further. And his texts: always halfway between prose and poetry. Prose – in that they tell stories; poetry due to what they hide and what they confirm.

Since May 2013, Finnegan’s List has been part of Schwob, a new, Europe-wide initiative for the promotion and translation of forgotten modern classics. Within the Schwob project, the Finnegan’s List organizes regular events where the authors will speak about their proposals and the importance of literature in translation.

On October 20, 2013 is the official launch of the new list – the Schwob/Finnegan’s List event will take place in Marseille (European Capital of Culture) at the famous Théâtre de la Criée.
Several encounters will follow in different European cities in 2014, such as Amsterdam and Krakow.