The “Man Booker Dozen” for the 2008 prize has been announced. The baker’s dozen consists of thirteen novels which have been selected from 112 entries, 103 of which were submitted for consideration and 9 requested by the judges.
Man Booker Longlist 2008
This year’s longlist is, as usual, a mix of established names and a few less familiar ones. The complete list is as follows:
Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
John Berger From A to X
Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Joseph O'Neill Netherland
Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith Child 44
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole
Two Former Winners on List
It is no surprise to find Rushdie’s name on the list: he has been longlisted 6 times now, and on four of those occasions has gone on to make the shortlist, winning the award in 1981 with Midnight’s Children. Some bookies make him the favourite, although Joseph O’Neill and Amitav Ghosh are also thought to be strong contenders. Another previous winner appears on the longlist: Sebastian Barry won the award back in 1972 for G – only the fourth recipient of the prestigious prize.
As well as these former winners, the longlist, very encouragingly, includes five debut novelists – Adiga, Arnold, Hanif, Smith (the youngest on the list, born in 1979) and Toltz. The list also includes four novels from independent publishers, indicating that this particular market is as strong as ever.
Man Booker Judges 2008
The longlist will be reduced to a shortlist of just six novels, to be announced on Tuesday 9th September, with the winner being revealed on Tuesday 14th October at an awards ceremony.The judges for this year are:
Michael Portillo (Chair), former MP and Cabinet Minister
Alex Clark, deputy editor of Granta
Louise Doughty, novelist
James Heneage, founder of Ottakar's bookshops
Hardeep Singh Kohli, TV and radio broadcaster.
Michael Portillo commented after the announcement of the longlist that “the judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK... The list covers an extraordinary variety of writing. Still two qualities emerge this year: large scale narrative and the striking use of humour."
For full details on this year’s selections, as well as information on previous winners, visit the official website of the Booker Prize.
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