The book by the author Ismail Kadare, titled “A dictator Calls” has been nominated for the “Booker 2024” Prize.

Published in 2018 in Albania, this book offers an exploration of the relationship between writers and dictators. Kadare recounts a pivotal phone call between a writer and Stalin in the former Soviet Union, which at one point could be used against the writer himself.

The jury, which evaluated the book and ranked it among the selected works in the competition, described this novel as a captivating meditation on Soviet Russia, authoritarianism, power structures, and a period marked by eminent writers. The winning book will be announced at a ceremony on May 21, 2024. If successful, Ismail Kadare would become the first author to win the International Booker Prize twice. He previously won the inaugural prize (then known as the International Man Booker Prize) in 2005. At that time, the award was given for a body of work rather than an individual book.

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