“All of them do something exciting with the language they have chosen to use”.
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It’s always awaited with great anticipation: The most prestigious literary award for a novel written in English, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, is now in its 47th year.
The shortlist will be announced on Tuesday September 15 and the victor will be announced on Tuesday October 13.
Marilynne Robinson has been shortlisted for the Man Booker worldwide Prize in 2011 and 2013.
Marlon James has today become the first Jamaican-born author to be longlisted for the Booker for his book A Brief History of Seven Killings about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley.
Anne Enright (Ireland), “The Green Road“.
In addition to McCarthy and O’Hagan, both of whom have been shortlisted before, the longlist also includes a previous victor in the Irish author Anne Enright, recognised this year for The Green Road.
Michael Wood, chairman of the judges, said: “The range of different performances and forms of these novels is incredible”. Also from the US, but born in Rabat and the first Moroccan-born author longlisted for the prize, is Laila Lalami, for The Moor’s Account, published by Periscope, an imprint of independent publisher Garnet Publishing.
There are three debut novelists on the list with Bill Clegg’s “Did You Ever Have a Family“, Chigozie Obioma’s “The Fishermen” and Anna Smaill’s “The Chimes“. The ceremony will be broadcast by the BBC.
Thomas Keneally’s bestselling “Schindler’s Ark”, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1982, was adapted by Steven Spielberg into the Oscar-winning Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List”. The prize has been awarded since 1969 and previously was open only to authors from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland, and Zimbabwe. The book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Oh, and theres a £50,000 prize. The shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.
Following her second win in 2012, Hilary Mantel topped the UK Nielsen BookScan chart with the sales of Bring up the Bodies, her sequel to Wolf Hall which won in 2009.
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– Marlon James, “A Brief History of Seven Killings“.
