Jo confesso (Confessions), the novel by the Catalan author Jaume Cabré, is a bestseller and has been translated into more than 28 languages. He has now received the 2017 Athens Prize for Literature for the best work of fiction translated into Greek, which adds to his long list of accolades. The book was translated by Evryviadis Sofos and published by Polis Publishers in 2016.
First published in 2011, Cabré’s novel has become well-established in the European market, with editions in Albanian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Polish, Turkish and English, among other languages. It has also earned him several awards, such as the 2013 Prix Courrier International in France for the best foreign novel, the 2012 Premi de la Crítica Serra d’Or in Catalonia and the Stockholm Kulturhuset Stadsteatern International Literature Prize in Sweden.
Jo confesso (Confessions) is about the research conducted by Adrià Ardèvol, a young man who uncovers the hidden story behind one of his father’s treasured possessions: a 17th-century violin. Around that narrative thread, the author constructs a story that ties in with the dramatic history of Europe in the 20th century.