Man Booker Prize
Encyclopedia
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize
awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations
, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great significance for the book trade. It is also a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist
or even to be nominated for the "longlist".
, which opted to retain "Booker" as part of the official title of the prize. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the entire profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd., of which it is the sole shareholder. The prize money awarded with the Booker Prize was originally £21,000, and was subsequently raised to £50,000 in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Man Group, making it one of the world's richest literary prizes.
The rules of the Booker changed in 1971; previously, it had been awarded retrospectively to books published prior to the year in which the award was given. In 1971 the year of eligibility was changed to the same as the year of the award; in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for the Booker in either year. The Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of a special award called the "Lost Man Booker Prize
," with the winner chosen from a longlist of 22 novels published in 1970.
2001 was the first year in which the longlist was revealed to the general public.
, who was an avowed Marxist at the time, protested during his acceptance speech against Booker McConnell. He blamed Booker's 130 years of sugar production in the Caribbean for the region's modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement, because they had a socialist and revolutionary perspective in agreement with his own.
In 1980 Anthony Burgess
(Earthly Powers
) refused to attend the ceremony unless he could be guaranteed a win. He was one of two considered likely to win, the other being William Golding
's Rites of Passage. The judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favourites to win leading up to the prize and the dramatic "literary battle" between two senior authors made front page news.
The award has been criticized in various ways for the types of books it covers. For example in 1981 nominee John Banville
wrote a letter to the Guardian requesting that the prize be given to him so that he could use the money to buy every copy of the longlisted books in Ireland and donate them to libraries, "thus ensuring that the books not only are bought but also read - surely a unique occurrence." In 1994, Richard Gott
described the prize as "a significant and dangerous iceberg in the sea of British culture that serves as a symbol of its current malaise."
The winner is usually announced at a ceremony in London's Guildhall
, usually in early October.
(the 1981 winner) as "the best novel out of all the winners".
A similar prize known as The Best of the Booker
was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize. A short list of six winners was chosen and the decision was left to a public vote. The winner was again Midnight's Children.
a. In 1971, the nature of the Prize was changed so that it was awarded to novels published in that year instead of in the previous year; therefore, no novel published in 1970 could win the Booker Prize. This was rectified in 2010 by the awarding of the "Lost Man Booker Prize
" to J. G. Farrell's Troubles.
, was inaugurated in 2005 and is awarded biennially. A Russian version of the Booker Prize was created in 1992 called the Booker-Open Russia Literary Prize, also known as the Russian Booker Prize. In 2007, Man Group Plc and the Hong Kong Literary Festival Ltd established the Man Asian Literary Prize
, an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year.
Literature Festival in Cheltenham
, a Booker event is held on the last Saturday of the festival. Four guest speakers/judges debate a shortlist of four books from a given year from before the introduction of the Booker prize, and a winner is chosen. Unlike the real Man Booker, authors from outside the Commonwealth are also considered. In 2008, the winner for 1948 was Alan Paton
's Cry, the Beloved Country
, beating Norman Mailer
's The Naked and the Dead
, Graham Greene
's The Heart of the Matter
and Evelyn Waugh
's The Loved One
.
Literary award
A literary award is an award presented to an author who has written a particularly lauded piece or body of work. There are awards for forms of writing ranging from poetry to novels. Many awards are also dedicated to a certain genre of fiction or non-fiction writing . There are also awards...
awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great significance for the book trade. It is also a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist
Short list
A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates . The length of short lists varies according to the context.-U.S...
or even to be nominated for the "longlist".
History and administration
The prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize, after the company Booker-McConnell began sponsoring the event in 1968; it became commonly known as the "Booker Prize" or simply "the Booker." When administration of the prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation in 2002, the title sponsor became the investment company Man GroupMan Group
Man Group plc is a British alternative investment management business. It provides a range of funds for institutional and private investors globally. The company manages about US$68 billion and employs around 1,700 people in 15 locations worldwide.Man’s headquarters are at Riverbank House...
, which opted to retain "Booker" as part of the official title of the prize. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the entire profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd., of which it is the sole shareholder. The prize money awarded with the Booker Prize was originally £21,000, and was subsequently raised to £50,000 in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Man Group, making it one of the world's richest literary prizes.
The rules of the Booker changed in 1971; previously, it had been awarded retrospectively to books published prior to the year in which the award was given. In 1971 the year of eligibility was changed to the same as the year of the award; in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for the Booker in either year. The Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of a special award called the "Lost Man Booker Prize
Lost Man Booker Prize
The Lost Man Booker Prize was a special edition of the Man Booker Prize awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970, described by The New York Times as "an act of literary reparation"...
," with the winner chosen from a longlist of 22 novels published in 1970.
2001 was the first year in which the longlist was revealed to the general public.
Controversies
In 1972 winning author John BergerJohn Berger
John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...
, who was an avowed Marxist at the time, protested during his acceptance speech against Booker McConnell. He blamed Booker's 130 years of sugar production in the Caribbean for the region's modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement, because they had a socialist and revolutionary perspective in agreement with his own.
In 1980 Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
(Earthly Powers
Earthly Powers
Earthly Powers is a panoramic saga of the 20th century by Anthony Burgess first published in 1980. On one level it is a parody of a "blockbuster" novel, with the 81-year-old hero, Kenneth Toomey , telling the story of his life in 82 chapters...
) refused to attend the ceremony unless he could be guaranteed a win. He was one of two considered likely to win, the other being William Golding
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
's Rites of Passage. The judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favourites to win leading up to the prize and the dramatic "literary battle" between two senior authors made front page news.
The award has been criticized in various ways for the types of books it covers. For example in 1981 nominee John Banville
John Banville
John Banville is an Irish novelist and screenwriter.Banville's breakthrough novel The Book of Evidence was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Guinness Peat Aviation award. His eighteenth novel, The Sea, won the Man Booker Prize in 2005. He was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize in 2011...
wrote a letter to the Guardian requesting that the prize be given to him so that he could use the money to buy every copy of the longlisted books in Ireland and donate them to libraries, "thus ensuring that the books not only are bought but also read - surely a unique occurrence." In 1994, Richard Gott
Richard Gott
Richard Willoughby Gott is a British journalist and historian, who has written extensively on Latin America...
described the prize as "a significant and dangerous iceberg in the sea of British culture that serves as a symbol of its current malaise."
Judging
The selection process for the winner of the prize commences with the formation of an advisory committee which includes an author, two publishers, a literary agent, a bookseller, a librarian, and a chairperson appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation. The advisory committee then selects the judging panel, the membership of which changes each year, although on rare occasions a judge may be selected a second time. Judges are selected from amongst leading literary critics, writers, academics and notable public figures.The winner is usually announced at a ceremony in London's Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
, usually in early October.
Winners
In 1993 to mark the 25th anniversary it was decided to choose a Booker of Bookers Prize. Three previous judges of the award, Malcolm Bradbury, David Holloway and WL Webb, met and chose Salman Rushdie's Midnight's ChildrenMidnight's Children
Midnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie about India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism...
(the 1981 winner) as "the best novel out of all the winners".
A similar prize known as The Best of the Booker
The Best of the Booker
The Best of the Booker is a special prize awarded in commemoration of the Booker Prize's 40th anniversary. Eligible books included the 41 winners of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969...
was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize. A short list of six winners was chosen and the decision was left to a public vote. The winner was again Midnight's Children.
| Year | Author | Title | Genre(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | P. H. Newby P. H. Newby Percy Howard Newby CBE was an English novelist and broadcasting administrator. He was the first winner of the Booker Prize, his novel Something to Answer For having received the inaugural award in 1969.-Early life:P.H... |
Something to Answer For Something to Answer For Something to Answer For is a novel by the English author P. H. Newby. Its chief claim to fame is that it was the winner of the inaugural Booker Prize, which would go on to become one of the major literary awards in the English-speaking world.... |
Novel | |
| 1970 | Bernice Rubens Bernice Rubens Bernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi... |
The Elected Member The Elected Member The Elected Member is a Booker Prize-winning novel by Welsh author Bernice Rubens.-Plot:The novel's main character is Norman Zweck, who is addicted to amphetamines and is convinced that he sees silverfish wherever he goes.-References:... |
Novel | |
| 1970 | J. G. Farrell James Gordon Farrell James Gordon Farrell , known as J.G. Farrell, was a Liverpool-born novelist of Irish descent. Farrell gained prominence for his historical fiction, most notably his Empire Trilogy , dealing with the political and human consequences of British colonial rule... |
Troubles Troubles (novel) Troubles is a 1970 novel by the English author J.G. Farrell. It won the Lost Man Booker Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Troubles concerns the dilapidation of a once grand Irish hotel , in the midst of the political upheaval during the Irish War of Independence .The novel is the first... |
Novel | |
| 1971 | V. S. Naipaul V. S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad "V. S." Naipaul, TC is a Nobel prize-winning Indo-Trinidadian-British writer who is known for his novels focusing on the legacy of the British Empire's colonialism... |
In a Free State In a Free State In a Free State is a novel by V.S. Naipaul published in 1971, consisting of a framing narrative and three short stories, the last one also titled In a Free State. It won the Booker Prize for 1971. The work is symphonic with different movements working towards an overriding theme... |
Short story | |
| 1972 | John Berger John Berger John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was... |
G. G. (novel) G. is a 1972 novel by John Berger. The novel's setting is pre-First World War Europe, and its protagonist, named "G.", is a Don Juan or Casanova-like lover of women who gradually comes to political consciousness after misadventures across the continent... |
Experimental novel | |
| 1973 | J. G. Farrell James Gordon Farrell James Gordon Farrell , known as J.G. Farrell, was a Liverpool-born novelist of Irish descent. Farrell gained prominence for his historical fiction, most notably his Empire Trilogy , dealing with the political and human consequences of British colonial rule... |
The Siege of Krishnapur The Siege of Krishnapur The Siege of Krishnapur is a novel by the author J. G. Farrell, published in 1973.Inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow, the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the British residents... |
Novel | |
| 1974 | Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer is a South African writer and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature when she was recognised as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".Her writing has long dealt... |
The Conservationist The Conservationist The Conservationist is a 1974 novel by 1991 Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer. The book was a joint winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction.-Plot summary:... |
Novel |  South Africa |
| Stanley Middleton Stanley Middleton Stanley Middleton FRSL was a British novelist. He was born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire and educated at High Pavement School, Stanley Road, Nottingham and University College Nottingham.... |
Holiday Holiday (novel) Holiday is a Booker Prize-winning novel by English author Stanley Middleton.- Plot :The novel revolves around Edwin Fisher, a lecturer who takes a holiday at a seaside resort... |
Novel | ||
| 1975 | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant... |
Heat and Dust Heat and Dust Heat and Dust is a novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala which won the Booker Prize in 1975. It is said to be based on an idea by another writer, but this writer is un-named.-Plot summary:... |
Historical novel | |
| 1976 | David Storey David Storey David Rhames Storey is an English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist and a former professional rugby league player.... |
Saville Saville (novel) Saville is a Booker Prize-winning novel by English author David Storey.-Plot:The novel centers around Colin, a young boy growing up in the fictional Yorkshire mining village of Saxton during WWII and the postwar years.-References:**... |
Novel | |
| 1977 | Paul Scott | Staying On Staying On Staying On is a novel by Paul Scott, which was published in 1977 and won the Booker Prize.-Plot summary:Staying On focuses on Tusker and Lucy Smalley, who are briefly mentioned in the latter two books of the Raj Quartet, The Towers of Silence and A Division of the Spoils, and are the last British... |
Novel | |
| 1978 | Iris Murdoch Iris Murdoch Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious... |
The Sea, the Sea The Sea, the Sea The Sea, the Sea is the 19th novel by Iris Murdoch. It won the Booker Prize in 1978.-Plot summary:The Sea, the Sea is a tale of the strange obsessions that haunt a self-satisfied playwright and director as he begins to write his memoirs... |
Philosophical novel Philosophical novel Philosophical fiction refers to works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the work is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy. These might include the function and role of society, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, the role of... |
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| 1979 | Penelope Fitzgerald Penelope Fitzgerald Penelope Fitzgerald was a Booker Prize-winning English novelist, poet, essayist and biographer. In 2008, The Times included her in a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:... |
Offshore Offshore (novel) Offshore is a novel by Penelope Fitzgerald. It won the Booker Prize for that year. It recalls her time spent on boats in Battersea by the Thames. The novel centralizes around the idea of liminality, expanding upon it to include the notion: 'liminal people,' people who do not belong to the land or... |
Novel | |
| 1980 | William Golding William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies... |
Rites of Passage | Novel | |
| 1981 | Salman Rushdie | Midnight's Children Midnight's Children Midnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie about India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism... |
Magical realism | |
| 1982 | Thomas Keneally Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor... |
Schindler's Ark Schindler's Ark Schindler's Ark is a Booker Prize-winning novel published in 1982 by Australian Thomas Keneally, which was later adapted into the highly successful movie Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg... |
Biographical novel Biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional and usually entertaining account of a person's life. This kind of novel concentrates on the experiences a person had during his lifetime, the people he met and the incidents which occurred are detailed and sometimes... |
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| 1983 | J. M. Coetzee | Life & Times of Michael K Life & Times of Michael K Life & Times of Michael K is a 1983 novel by South African-born author J. M. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2003. The book itself won the Booker Prize for 1983... |
Novel | South Africa |
| 1984 | Anita Brookner Anita Brookner Anita Brookner CBE is an English language novelist and art historian who was born in Herne Hill, a suburb of London.-Early life and education:... |
Hotel du Lac Hotel du Lac Hotel du Lac is a 1984 Booker Prize winning novel by English writer Anita Brookner.-Plot:Romantic novelist Edith Hope is staying in a hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva, where her friends have advised her to retreat following an unfortunate incident... |
Novel | |
| 1985 | Keri Hulme Keri Hulme Keri Hulme is a New Zealand writer, best known for The Bone People, her only novel.-Early life:Hulme was born in Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island. The daughter of a carpenter and a credit manager, she was the eldest of six children. Her parents were of English, Scottish, and Māori ... |
The Bone People The Bone People The Bone People is a Booker Prize-winning 1984 novel by New Zealand author Keri Hulme. Hulme was turned down by many publishing houses before she found a small publishing house in New Zealand called Spiral... |
Mystery novel | |
| 1986 | Kingsley Amis Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism... |
The Old Devils The Old Devils The Old Devils is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1986. The novel won the Booker Prize. It was adapted for television by Andrew Davies for the BBC in 1992, starring John Stride, Bernard Hepton, James Grout and Ray Smith... |
Comic novel Comic novel A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer not only seeks to amuse the reader, but also to make the reader think about controversial issues, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations... |
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| 1987 | Penelope Lively Penelope Lively Penelope Lively CBE, FRSL is a prolific, popular and critically acclaimed author of fiction for both children and adults. She has been shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize, winning once for Moon Tiger in 1987.-Personal:... |
Moon Tiger Moon Tiger Moon Tiger is a 1987 novel by Penelope Lively which spans the time before, during and after World War II. The novel won the 1987 Booker Prize . It is written from multiple points of view and moves backward and forward through time... |
Novel | |
| 1988 | Peter Carey | Oscar and Lucinda Oscar and Lucinda Oscar and Lucinda is a novel by Peter Carey which won the 1988 Booker Prize, the 1989 Miles Franklin Award, and was shortlisted for The Best of the Booker.-Plot introduction:... |
Novel | |
| 1989 | Kazuo Ishiguro Kazuo Ishiguro Kazuo Ishiguro OBE or ; born 8 November 1954) is a Japanese–English novelist. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and his family moved to England in 1960. Ishiguro obtained his Bachelor's degree from University of Kent in 1978 and his Master's from the University of East Anglia's creative writing... |
The Remains of the Day The Remains of the Day The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's third published novel. One of the most highly-regarded post-war British novels, the work was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1989... |
Historical novel | |
| 1990 | A. S. Byatt A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, DBE is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner... |
Possession: A Romance Possession: A Romance Possession: A Romance is a 1990 bestselling novel by British writer A. S. Byatt. It is a winner of the Man Booker Prize.Part historical as well as contemporary fiction, the title Possession refers to issues of ownership and independence between lovers, the practice of collecting historically... |
Novel | |
| 1991 | Ben Okri Ben Okri Ben Okri OBE FRSL is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Okri has become the leading figure of his generation of Nigerian writers who have largely abandoned the social and historical themes of Chinua Achebe, and brought together modernist narrative strategies and Nigerian oral and literary... |
The Famished Road The Famished Road The Famished Road is the Booker Prize-winning novel written by Nigerian author Ben Okri. The novel, published in 1991, follows Azaro, an abiku or spirit child, living in an unnamed most likely Nigerian city. The novel employs a unique narrative style incorporating the spirit world with the "real"... |
Magic realism Magic realism Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of... |
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| 1992 | Michael Ondaatje Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:... |
The English Patient The English Patient The English Patient is a 1992 novel by Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje. The story deals with the gradually revealed histories of a critically burned English accented Hungarian man, his Canadian nurse, a Canadian-Italian thief, and an Indian sapper in the British Army as they live out... |
Historiographic metafiction |  Sri Lanka |
| Barry Unsworth Barry Unsworth Barry Unsworth is a British novelist who is known for novels with historical themes. He has published 15 novels, and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger.... |
Sacred Hunger Sacred Hunger Sacred Hunger is a historical novel by Barry Unsworth first published in 1992. It shared the Booker Prize that year with Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient.... |
Historical novel | ||
| 1993 | Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. He won the Booker Prize in 1993.... |
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle. It won the Booker Prize in 1993. The story is about a 10 year old boy and events that happen within his age group... |
Novel | |
| 1994 | James Kelman James Kelman James Kelman is an influential writer of novels, short stories, plays and political essays. His novel A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989... |
How Late It Was, How Late How late it was, how late How late it was, how late is a 1994 stream of consciousness novel written by Scottish writer James Kelman. The Glasgow-centred work is written in a working class Scottish dialect, and follows Sammy, a shoplifter and ex-convict.-Plot summary:... |
Stream of consciousness | |
| 1995 | Pat Barker Pat Barker Pat Barker CBE, FRSL is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres around themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and plainspoken.-Personal life:... |
The Ghost Road The Ghost Road The Ghost Road is a novel by Pat Barker, first published in 1995 and winner of the Booker Prize. It is the third volume of a trilogy that follows the fortunes of shell-shocked British army officers towards the end of the First World War... |
War novel War novel A war novel is a novel in which the primary action takes place in a field of armed combat, or in a domestic setting where the characters are preoccupied with the preparations for, or recovery from, war... |
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| 1996 | Graham Swift Graham Swift Graham Colin Swift FRSL is a British author. He was born in London, England and educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York. He was a friend of Ted Hughes... |
Last Orders Last Orders Last Orders is a 1996 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author Graham Swift. In 2001 it was adapted for the film Last Orders by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi.-Plot summary:... |
Novel | |
| 1997 | Arundhati Roy Arundhati Roy Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays... |
The God of Small Things The God of Small Things The God of Small Things is the debut novel of Indian author Arundhati Roy. It is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the "Love Laws" that lay down "who should be loved, and how. And how much." The book is a description of how the small things in... |
Novel | |
| 1998 | Ian McEwan Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan CBE, FRSA, FRSL is a British novelist and screenwriter, and one of Britain's most highly regarded writers. In 2008, The Times named him among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".... |
Amsterdam Amsterdam (novel) Amsterdam is a 1998 novel by British writer Ian McEwan. It is a morality tale revolving around a newspaper editor and a composer. McEwan was awarded the 1998 Booker Prize for the novel.-Summary:... |
Novel | |
| 1999 | J. M. Coetzee | Disgrace | Novel | |
| 2000 | Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C... |
The Blind Assassin The Blind Assassin The Blind Assassin is an award-winning, bestselling novel by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 2000. Set in Canada, it is narrated from the present day, referring back to events that span the twentieth century.The work was awarded the Man... |
Novel | |
| 2001 | Peter Carey | True History of the Kelly Gang True History of the Kelly Gang True History of the Kelly Gang is an historical novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. It was first published in Brisbane by the University of Queensland Press in 2000. It won the 2001 Man Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the same year. Despite its title, the book is fiction and... |
Historical novel | |
| 2002 | Yann Martel Yann Martel Yann Martel is a Canadian author best known for the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi.-Early life:Martel was born in Salamanca, Spain where his father was posted as a diplomat for the Canadian government. He was raised in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, and Canada... |
Life of Pi Life of Pi Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age... |
Fantasy novel | |
| 2003 | DBC Pierre | Vernon God Little Vernon God Little Vernon God Little is a novel by DBC Pierre. It was his debut novel and won the Booker Prize in 2003.-Plot introduction:The title character is a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in a small town in the U.S. state of Texas... |
Novel | |
| 2004 | Alan Hollinghurst Alan Hollinghurst Alan Hollinghurst is a British novelist, and winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.-Biography:Hollinghurst was born on 26 May 1954 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the only child of James Hollinghurst, a bank manager, and his wife, Elizabeth... |
The Line of Beauty The Line of Beauty The Line of Beauty is a 2004 Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.-Plot introduction:Set in Britain in the early to mid-1980s, the story surrounds the post-Oxford life of the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest.... |
Historical novel | |
| 2005 | John Banville John Banville John Banville is an Irish novelist and screenwriter.Banville's breakthrough novel The Book of Evidence was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Guinness Peat Aviation award. His eighteenth novel, The Sea, won the Man Booker Prize in 2005. He was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize in 2011... |
The Sea The Sea (novel) - Plot summary:The story is told by Max Morden, a self-aware, retired art historian attempting to reconcile himself to the deaths of those whom he loved as a child and as an adult.... |
Novel | |
| 2006 | Kiran Desai Kiran Desai Kiran Desai is an Indian author who is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States. Her novel The Inheritance of Loss won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award... |
The Inheritance of Loss The Inheritance of Loss The Inheritance of Loss is the second novel by Indian author Kiran Desai. It was first published in 2006. It won a number of awards, including the Man Booker Prize for that year, the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award in 2007, and the 2006 Vodafone Crossword Book Award.It was written over a... |
Novel | |
| 2007 | Anne Enright Anne Enright Anne Enright is a Booker Prize-winning Irish author. She has published essays, short stories, a non-fiction book and four novels. Before her novel The Gathering won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, Enright had a low profile in Ireland and the United Kingdom, although her books were favourably reviewed... |
The Gathering The Gathering (Enright novel) The Gathering is the fourth novel by Irish author Anne Enright. It won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, eventually chosen unanimously by the jury after having largely been considered an outsider to win the prize... |
Novel | |
| 2008 | Aravind Adiga Aravind Adiga Aravind Adiga is an Indian writer and journalist. His debut novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize.-Early life and education:... |
The White Tiger The White Tiger The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga. It was first published in 2008 and won the Man Booker Prize in the same year. The novel provides a darkly comical view of modern day life in India through the narration of its protagonist Balram Halwai... |
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| 2009 | Hilary Mantel Hilary Mantel Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards... |
Wolf Hall Wolf Hall Wolf Hall is a multi-award winning historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a fictionalized biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex in the court of Henry VIII of... |
Historical novel | |
| 2010 | Howard Jacobson Howard Jacobson Howard Jacobson is a Man Booker Prize-winning British Jewish author and journalist. He is best known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.-Background:... |
The Finkler Question The Finkler Question The Finkler Question is a 2010 novel written by British author Howard Jacobson. The novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2010 and was the first comic novel to win the prize since Kingsley Amis's The Old Devils in 1986.... |
Novel | |
| 2011 | Julian Barnes Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes is a contemporary English writer, and winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, for his book The Sense of an Ending... |
The Sense of an Ending The Sense of an Ending The Sense of an Ending is a 2011 novel written by British author Julian Barnes. The book is Barnes' eleventh novel and was released on 4 August 2011 in the United Kingdom. The Sense of an Ending is narrated by a middle-aged man named Tony Webster, who recalls how he and his clique met Adrian Finn... |
Novel | |
a. In 1971, the nature of the Prize was changed so that it was awarded to novels published in that year instead of in the previous year; therefore, no novel published in 1970 could win the Booker Prize. This was rectified in 2010 by the awarding of the "Lost Man Booker Prize
Lost Man Booker Prize
The Lost Man Booker Prize was a special edition of the Man Booker Prize awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970, described by The New York Times as "an act of literary reparation"...
" to J. G. Farrell's Troubles.
Related awards
A separate prize for which any living author in the world may qualify, the Man Booker International PrizeMan Booker International Prize
The Man Booker International Prize is a biennial international literary award given to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation....
, was inaugurated in 2005 and is awarded biennially. A Russian version of the Booker Prize was created in 1992 called the Booker-Open Russia Literary Prize, also known as the Russian Booker Prize. In 2007, Man Group Plc and the Hong Kong Literary Festival Ltd established the Man Asian Literary Prize
Man Asian Literary Prize
The Man Asian Literary Prize, founded in 2007, is an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year...
, an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year.
Cheltenham Booker Prize
As part of The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
Literature Festival in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, a Booker event is held on the last Saturday of the festival. Four guest speakers/judges debate a shortlist of four books from a given year from before the introduction of the Booker prize, and a winner is chosen. Unlike the real Man Booker, authors from outside the Commonwealth are also considered. In 2008, the winner for 1948 was Alan Paton
Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton was a South African author and anti-apartheid activist.-Family:Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province , the son of a minor civil servant. After attending Maritzburg College, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Natal in his hometown, followed...
's Cry, the Beloved Country
Cry, The Beloved Country
Cry, the Beloved Country is a novel by South African author Alan Paton. It was first published in New York City in 1948 by Charles Scribner's Sons and in London by Jonathan Cape; noted American publisher Bennett Cerf remarked at that year's meeting of the American Booksellers Association that there...
, beating Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
's The Naked and the Dead
The Naked and the Dead
The Naked and the Dead is a 1948 novel by Norman Mailer. It was based on his experiences with the 112th Cavalry Regiment during the Philippines Campaign in World War II...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter , a novel by the English author Graham Greene, won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. During World War II, Greene worked for the Secret Intelligence Service in Sierra Leone, the setting for his novel...
and Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
's The Loved One
The Loved One
The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy is a short satirical novel by British novelist Evelyn Waugh about the funeral business in Los Angeles, the British expatriate community in Hollywood, and the film industry.-Conception:...
.
See also
- The Commonwealth Writers Prize
- The National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
- The Prix GoncourtPrix GoncourtThe Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
- The Costa Book AwardsCosta Book AwardsThe Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....
- The Governor General's AwardGovernor General's AwardThe Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
- The Scotiabank Giller PrizeScotiabank Giller PrizeThe Scotiabank Giller Prize, or Giller Prize, is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries...
- The Miles Franklin AwardMiles Franklin AwardThe Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
- Russian Booker PrizeRussian Booker PrizeThe Russian Booker Prize is a Russian literary award modeled after the Booker Prize and inaugurated in 1992 by English Chief Executive Sir Michael Caine...
- List of British literary awards
- List of literary awards
- The Samuel Johnson Prize (non-fiction)Samuel Johnson PrizeThe Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction is one of the most prestigious prizes for non-fiction writing. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award and based on an anonymous donation. The prize is named after Samuel Johnson...
Further reading
- Lee, Hermione (1981) The Booker Prize: Matters of judgment Times Literary Supplement, Reprinted 22 October October 2008
External links
- Man Booker Prize
- The Booker Prize Archive at Oxford Brookes University
- A primer on the Man Booker Prize and critical review of literature.