The South Korean author Han Kang has been named the winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for her novel The Vegetarian, splitting the £50,000 prize with her translator, Deborah Smith.
•    The Vegetarian, published by Portobello Books, the UK independent publisher, is Ms Han’s first novel to be translated into English. 
•    It is the strange story of Yeong-hye, a Korean wife who, seeking a more “plant-like existence”, decides to become vegetarian — a rebellious decision that flouts the traditions of her family and country.
•    Ms Smith, 28, started to learn Korean only seven years ago, when she moved to Korea. 
•    It was Ms Smith who proposed the idea of translating The Vegetarian.
•    She also worked on Ms Han’s second novel to be translated into English, Human Acts. 
•    Ms Smith is also the founder of Tilted Axis Press, a non-profit publishing house that promotes the translation of literature from Africa and Asia.
•    Previous prize winners include László Krasznahorkai (2015), Lydia Davis (2013), Philip Roth (2011), Alice Munro (2009), Chinua Achebe (2007) and Ismail Kadare (2005).
•    The prize is sponsored by Man Group, who also sponsor the annual Man Booker prize for English language fiction.