Booker Prize 2012 Longlist: Out With The Old In With The New
The longlist for the 2012 Man Booker Prize is either a breath of fresh air or a slap in the face for the old guard. Notably absent from the list are presumed shoo-ins such as Zadie Smith, Martin Amis, John Banville and Ian McEwan. In their place, four debut novels, three small independent publishers, and only one previous winner, Hilary Mantel. Sir Peter Stothard, chair of judges, said, "We did not set out to reject the old guard but, after a year of sustained critical argument by a demanding panel of judges, the new has come powering through.”
The Prize—awarded every year since 1969 to a citizen of the UK, the Commonwealth, or the Republic of Ireland—boasts a £50,000 prize, but the publicity, sales, and prestige are the true rewards. Howard Jacobson, 2010 winner, explains the consequences of winning in this video:
This year's longlist features nine British authors, one Indian, one South African, one Malaysian, and zero Canadians (snubbed, eh?). The nominated authors range in age from 27 to 77 years old. The twelve-book list will be whittled down to a six-book shortlist on September 11, and one winner will be announced on October 16. This year's selections are:
Nicola Barker, The Yips (Fourth Estate)
Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident (Sceptre)
André Brink, Philida (Harvill Secker)
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books)
Michael Frayn, Skios (Faber & Faber)
Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Doubleday)
Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories)
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate)
Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt)
Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury)
Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber)
Sam Thompson, Communion Town (Fourth Estate)
How many have you read and what do you think of the judges' choices?
News by Kimberly Turner
Kimberly Turner is an internet entrepreneur, DJ, editor, beekeeper, linguist, traveler, and writer. This either makes her exceptionally well-rounded or slightly crazy; it’s hard to say which. She spent a decade as a journalist and magazine editor in Australia and the U.S. and is now working (very, very slowly) on her first novel. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics and lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, two cats, ten fish, and roughly 60,000 bees.
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Now this'll be interesting...
Interesting indeed. I've read two: The Yips, and Bring Up the Bodies.
That Will Self book sounds good, but unfortunately it hasn't been released in the states yet.
What, no Americans? My bloated sense of entitlement has taken a devastating blow. (Seriously, I wish all the best of luck.)
Americans are excluded from the prize. It's a Brit thing. I've only read "Bring Up the Bodies," and it was great--sequel to last year's winner, "Wolf Hall."