Knausgaard heads Independent foreign fiction prize shortlist

Short stories dominate list, with exiled Iraqi novelist Hassan Lasim and acclaimed Japanese author Yko Ogawa joining the Norwegian literary sensation

Karl Ove Knausgaard, the current toast of literary Norway, is heading a shortlist for the Independent foreign fiction prize, which ranges from Japan to Iraq. Exiled Iraqi novelist Hassan Blasim also made the list for his short story collection The Iraqi Christ.

The shortlist, announced on Tuesday, for the first time includes two Japanese female writers. Hiromi Kawakami was selected for her story of a haunting romance between two "lonely losers", Strange Weather in Tokyo, and Yko Ogawa, who has won each of Japan's major literary awards and is known as the Japanese Angela Carter, god a nod for Revenge, a collection of linked short stories. Past winners of the prize include Milan Kundera and WG Sebald.

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