The shortlist for the Russian Booker Prize (charmingly referred to by The Guardian as “the unknown Booker“) was announced yesterday. Instead of the usual book of the year award, the committee will be giving out the “Booker of the Decade,” chosen from among all the books that have been nominated over the past ten years. Here’s the shortlist:

• Oleg Pavlov‘s Funeral Rites in Karaganda, or, A Tale of Recent Times
• Zakhar Prilepin‘s Sankya
• Roman Senchin‘s The Yeltyshevs
• Ludmila Ultisaka‘s Daniel Stein, Interpreter
• Alexander Chudakov‘s Haze Sets Upon the Old Steps

Of these books, only Daniel Stein, Interpreter is available in English translation.

The Russian Booker has had its share of funding hiccups lately: when Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chair of the NGO Open Russian,  was sentenced to prison in 2005, the partnership between Open Russia and the Booker Foundation ended. British Petroleum sponsored the prize from 2005-2010, but at that point there were rumors of discontinuing the prize due to a lack of funding. Just recently Russian Telecom Equipment Company stepped in to sponsor the award.

Here’s to hoping the Russian Booker stays healthy in the future — and more books on its list get translated.

Emily Albarillo is an intern at Melville House.