Image by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

By Talya Zax June 14, 2017

Israeli novelist David Grossman and his translator, Jessica Cohen, have won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize for “A Horse Walks Into a Bar.”

Delighted to announce our #MBI2017 winner is David Grossman’s A Horse Walks Into a Bar translated by Jessica Cohen – https://t.co/AZQPkQiKfp pic.twitter.com/z441PP3DiC

— Man Booker Prize (@ManBookerPrize) June 14, 2017

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Both Grossman and Amos Oz were finalists for the prize. The honor comes with a cash award of £50,000, shared equally between author and translator.

Its most recent winners were Hungarian novelist and his translator George Szirtes.

“It’s a short book, at times the main character is challenging,” said Nick Barley, chair of this year’s judges, in a video released by the Booker Foundation. “But what David Grossman achieves with this book is absolutely remarkable.”

Speaking to the Forward this spring, Cohen offered thoughts on why “A Horse Walks Into a Bar” was a powerful novel.

“Initially when you see the title, and you read the first couple pages, you think ‘Oh, he’s doing something light, this is going to be fun,’” she said. “And then you get sucked into this black hole of humanity. This is not going to be all about telling jokes, not that telling jokes is easy. It’s deceptively light and deceptively humorous.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount