New books by acclaimed writers Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood are among 13 long-listed for the 2019 Booker Prize, one of the foremost in the English literary world.
The list chosen from 151 novels published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019, includes eight women and five men, prize organisers said on Wednesday.
Rushdie, a former Booker winner, is on the longlist for ‘Quichotte’, a novel to be published in September; Atwood’s ‘The Testament’ is also due to be released in September. The list includes a debut novel, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s ‘My Sister, The Serial Killer’.
‘Quichotte’ is inspired by Don Quixote and sees an ageing travelling salesman falling in love with a television star, driving across America to win her hand. Judges called it a “picaresque tour de force of contemporary America, with all its alarms and craziness”.
Releasing the longlist, chair of the judges, Peter Florence, said: “If you only read one book this year, make a leap. Read all 13 of these. There are Nobel candidates and debutants on this list. There are no favourites; they are all credible winners”.
“They imagine our world, familiar from news cycle disaster and grievance, with wild humour, deep insight and a keen humanity. These writers offer joy and hope. They celebrate the rich complexity of English as a global language. They are exacting, enlightening and entertaining. Really – read all of them.”
{{/usCountry}}“They imagine our world, familiar from news cycle disaster and grievance, with wild humour, deep insight and a keen humanity. These writers offer joy and hope. They celebrate the rich complexity of English as a global language. They are exacting, enlightening and entertaining. Really – read all of them.”
{{/usCountry}}The shortlist of six books will be announced on September 3, with each author receiving £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book. The 2019 winner will be announced on October 14 at London’s Guildhall.
The winner will receive £50,000 and can expect international recognition, organisers of the prize instituted in 1969 said.
The long-list:
Author (country/territory) Title (imprint)
Margaret Atwood (Canada) The Testaments (Vintage, Chatto & Windus)
Kevin Barry (Ireland) Night Boat to Tangier (Canongate Books)
Oyinkan Braithwaite (UK/Nigeria) My Sister, The Serial Killer (Atlantic Books)
Lucy Ellmann (USA/UK) Ducks, Newburyport (Galley Beggar Press)
Bernardine Evaristo (UK) Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton)
John Lanchester (UK) The Wall (Faber & Faber)
Deborah Levy (UK) The Man Who Saw Everything (Hamish Hamilton)
Valeria Luiselli (Mexico/Italy) Lost Children Archive (4th Estate)
Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria) An Orchestra of Minorities (Little Brown)
Max Porter (UK) Lanny (Faber & Faber)
Salman Rushdie (UK/India) Quichotte (Jonathan Cape)
Elif Shafak (UK/Turkey) 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (Viking)
Jeanette Winterson (UK) Frankissstein (Jonathan Cape)
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