The longlist of books for what is probably the most anticipated literary award in the world, the Man Booker Prize, has just been announced in London – and the longlist is:
Bill Clegg (US) – Did You Ever Have a Family
Anne Enright (Ireland) – The Green Road
Marlon James (Jamaica) – A Brief History of Seven Killings
Laila Lalami (US) – The Moor’s Account
Tom McCarthy (UK) – Satin Island
Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria) – The Fishermen
Andrew O’Hagan (UK) – The Illuminations
Marilynne Robinson (US) – Lila
Anuradha Roy (India) – Sleeping on Jupiter
Sunjeev Sahota (UK) – The Year of the Runaways
Anna Smaill (New Zealand) – The Chimes
Anne Tyler (US) – A Spool of Blue Thread
Hanya Yanagihara (US) – A Little Life
The Man Booker Prize website reported: “The judges were struck by the international spectrum of the novels, with the longlist featuring three British writers, five US writers and one apiece from the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, India, Nigeria and Jamaica. Marlon James, who currently lives in Minneapolis, is the first Jamaican-born author to be nominated for the prize. Laila Lalami, now based in Santa Monica but born in Rabat, is the first Moroccan-born.”
For many writers winning the Man Booker Prize is the ultimate accolade. “It’s the one which, if we’re completely honest, we most covet,” said 1996 winner Graham Swift.
The £50,000 prize can mean even more than the prize money. It’s also guaranteed to increase book sales and exposure, with the award covered by media worldwide.
Its prestige has increased further now that it’s open to a wider range of writers. Traditionally open only to citizens of the UK, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, last year the Man Booker became open to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the UK.
However, its wider intake may mean less chance for Australian books and there are no Australian authors on the list this year. Last year, in contrast, was an exciting one for Australian fiction with the 2014 award going to Australian Richard Flanagan for The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
The 2015 shortlist will be announced in September and the final award will be announced on 13 October 2015.
To see every Booker Prize winning book since 1969 see our list here.
Let us know what you think of the list and if you’ve read any of these titles yet.
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