Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of either the Commonwealth of Nations or Ireland.

The winner of the Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success and, for this reason, the prize is of great significance for the book trade^[1]. It is also a mark of distinction for authors to be nominated for the Booker longlist or selected for inclusion in the shortlist. In 1993, the Booker of Bookers Prize was awarded to Salman Rushdie for Midnight's Children (the 1981 winner), as the best novel to win the award in the first 25 years of its existence. A similar prize known as The Best of the Booker was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize - this was also won by Midnight's Children. ^[2][3]

Balloting for the finalists in the current prize competition has surprised some observers by passing over Rushdie's latest effort, "The Enchantress of Florence," which failed to make the so-called shortlist. The award will be announced Oct. 14, 2008.^[4]

For a complete list of winning and shortlisted authors, see List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction.

[edit] History

The prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize after the company Booker-McConnell began sponsoring the event in 1968, and 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 Group, which opted to retain "Booker" as part of the official title of the prize. 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.

[edit] 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.

To maintain the consistent excellence of the prize, judges are selected from amongst leading literary critics, writers, academics and notable public figures.

[edit] Booker Prize winners

[edit] Booker facts and statistics

• Each publisher's imprint may submit two titles. In addition, previous winners of the prize and those who have been shortlisted in the previous ten years are automatically considered. Books may also be 'called in': publishers can make written representations to the judges to consider titles in addition to those already entered. In the 21st Century the average number of books considered by the judges has been approximately 130.
• The list of books making the longlist was first released in 2001. In 2003 there were 23 books on the longlist, in 2002 there were 20 and in 2001 there were 24.
• For the first 35 years of the Booker, there were only five years when fewer than six books were on the shortlist, and two years (1980 and 1981) when there were seven on the shortlist.
• As of (2003):
  • Over the first 35 years there were a total of 201 novels from 135 authors on the shortlists.
  • Of the 97 novelists nominated once, there were 13 winners and three joint winners.
  • Of the 19 novelists nominated twice, there were seven winners and one two-time winner (J. M. Coetzee).
  • Of the 10 novelists nominated three times, there were four winners, one joint winner and one two-time winner (Peter Carey).
  • Of the six four-time nominees, all but William Trevor have won once. The other four-time nominees are Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Thomas Keneally and Penelope Fitzgerald.
  • There have only been two five-time nominees, Margaret Atwood (first nominated in 1986 and won in 2000) and Beryl Bainbridge (nominated twice in the 1970s and three times in the 1990s, but she has never won).
  • There has been only one six-time nominee, Iris Murdoch, who won on her fourth nomination in 1978 and was nominated twice more in the 1980s.

• Including authors with dual citizenship, the United Kingdom has (by far) the most winners of the prize at 24. Second is Australia with six winners (counting both Coetzee and Carey twice), and third is the Republic of Ireland with four.

[edit] Related awards

A separate prize for which any living author in the world may qualify, the Man Booker International Prize, was inaugurated in 2005 and is awarded biannually. A Russian version of the Booker Prize was created in 1992.

[edit] See also

• List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction
• The Commonwealth Writers Prize
• The National Book Award
• The Prix Goncourt
• The Costa Book Awards
• The Governor General's Award
• The Scotiabank Giller Prize
• The Miles Franklin Award
• List of British literary awards
• List of literary awards

[edit] References

1. ^ "The Booker's Big Bang", New Statesman, 09 October 2008
2. ^ 'Best of the Booker' pits Rushdie against 40 pretenders | News | guardian.co.uk Books
3. ^ "Rushdie wins Best of Booker prize", BBC News, 10 July 2008
4. ^ http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/thisyear

[edit] External links

• The official website of the Man Booker Prize

• A primer on the Man Booker Prize and critical review of literature.
• The most honoured Booker shortlisted books