Booker Prize 2024 announces shortlist with the largest number of female authors in history
Kyiv • UNN
The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2024 includes 5 women authors out of 6 nominees, a record for 55 years. Writers from 5 countries are represented, including a Dutch author for the first time.
For the first time in the 55-year history of the most influential prize for fiction, 5 women were among the nominees, two of whom had previously been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. This was reported on the prize's website, UNN reports.
Details
The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2024, the world's most influential prize for fiction, has been announced on the prize's website. The list includes 6 authors from five countries, including a Dutch writer for the first time and a writer from Australia for the first time in 10 years. Other names include British, Canadian and American authors.
The jury selected 6 books out of 156 works published between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 and submitted by publishers for the competition. The shortlisted books are set around the world and beyond: from the battlefields of the First World War to spiritual retreats in the Australian countryside; from the deep South of America in the 19th century to a remote Dutch home in the 1960s; from the International Space Station to caves under the French countryside.
We were shortlisted:
- Percival Everett, James;
- Samantha Harvey, Orbital;
- Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake;
- Anne Michaels, Held;
- Yael van der Wooden, The Safekeep;
- Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional.
It is noted that several of the books on this year's shortlist are relatively short compared to some of the works of previous years. Four books have less than 300 pages, and "James" has 303 pages. "The Lake of Creation is 404 pages long, but according to the Booker judges, the spy thriller looks shorter. This year's shortest book, Orbital, is only 136 pages long and also covers the shortest period of time of all the novels on the list. Whereas Captive tells the story of four generations of a family over the course of a century, Orbital covers only 24 hours aboard the International Space Station. The Booker judges described the novel as "short but incredibly sweeping."
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The Man Booker Prize 2024 will be awarded on November 12, 2024 in London. The winner will receive 50 thousand pounds sterling and an Iris trophy.
