The Arts Council of England (ACE) has released the names of six contenders from 81, who have made it to the shortlist of this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The shortlist is, as follows: * Five Photos of my Wife by Agnès Desarthe, translated from French by Adriana Hunter (Flamingo) * Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sije, translated from French by Ina Rilke (Chatto and Windus) * Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov, translated from Russian by George Bird (Harvill) * Only in London by Hanan Al-Shaykh, translated from Arabic by Catherine Cobham (Bloomsbury) * On the Water by H M van den Brink, translated from Dutch by Paul Vincent (Faber and Faber) * Austerlitz by W G Sebald, translated from German by Anthea Bell (Hamish Hamilton) The prize aims to honour a great work of fiction by a living author, translated into English from another language and published in the UK. 2002 is the second year of awarding the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in its current form, following its revival in 2001 with support from ACE. The prize had previously been awarded between 1990 and 1995. One of the judges, the Independent's Literary Editor, Boyd Tonkin, stated this month in an ACE media release that 'we all know now how dangerous it is to neglect what's happening among other peoples and cultures. At such a time, good literature in translation offers one of the most direct and satisfying means of crossing frontiers. The six short-listed titles for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize all open up new places to us, in bold, inventive and involving ways. They prove that translated fiction can yield not just enormous pleasure and excitement, but essential insights into the way our world has evolved'. This year’s winning author and translator will receive GB₤5,000 and a limited edition magnum of Champagne Taittinger at an Award ceremony at Royal Festival Hall in London on 11 April.