The Man Booker Prize, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The winner, selected by a panel consisting of critics, academics and writers, receives £50,000 and both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a worldwide readership plus a dramatic increase in book sales.
"Prizes don't make writers and writers don't write to win prizes, but in the near-glut of literary awards now on offer, the Booker remains special. It's the one which, if we're completely honest, we most covet."
Graham Swift, 1996 Booker Prize winner
The first round of nominations for the award is known as the longlist and includes 13 titles which were announced today. This list will be reduced to 6 on September 9, 2009 with the announcement of the shortlist, from which the final winner will be chosen and announced on October 6, 2009.
As reported in the New York Times the nominees announced today are:
J.M. Coetzee, “Summertime,”Wyatt previously won the award in 1990 for “Possession.”
William Trevor, “Love and Summer,”
Colm Toibin, “Brooklyn”
Sarah Waters, “The Little Stranger” .
Adam Foulds, “The Quickening Maze”;
Sarah Hall, “How to Paint a Dead Man”;
Samantha Harvey, “The Wilderness”;
James Lever, “Me Cheeta”;
Hilary Mantel, “Wolf Hall”;
Simon Mawer, “The Glass Room”;
Ed O’Loughlin, “Not Untrue & Not Unkind”
James Scudamore, “Heliopolis”.
You can view the complete list at the Man Booker Award website which also has a synopsis of each of the books nominated. Several of these have appeared on the IndieNext list.
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