“Titans of international literature Haruki Murakami [1Q84] and Michel Houellebecq [The Map And The Territory] are going head-to-head on the shortlist for the €100,000 Impac award” – alongside, among others, Sjón’s From the Mouth of the Whale, Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic, and Karen Russell’s Swamplandia!.