The Man Booker Prize has announced their baker’s dozen of longlisted titles! An intriguing list, The Guardian has said it contains “new voices (is less global), but more diverse” and for the first time in Man Booker history, a graphic novel appears on its longlist.
Author (country/territory) Title (imprint)
Belinda Bauer (UK) Snap (Bantam Press)
Anna Burns (UK) Milkman (Faber & Faber)
Nick Drnaso (USA) Sabrina (Granta Books)
Esi Edugyan (Canada) Washington Black (Serpent’s Tail)
Guy Gunaratne (UK) In Our Mad And Furious City (Tinder Press)
Daisy Johnson (UK) Everything Under (Jonathan Cape)
Rachel Kushner (USA) The Mars Room (Jonathan Cape)
Sophie Mackintosh (UK) The Water Cure (Hamish Hamilton)
Michael Ondaatje (Canada) Warlight (Jonathan Cape)
Richard Powers (USA) The Overstory (William Heinemann)
Robin Robertson (UK) The Long Take (Picador)
Sally Rooney (Ireland) Normal People (Faber & Faber)
Donal Ryan (Ireland) From A Low And Quiet Sea (Doubleday Ireland)
An interesting one that I will try my best to track down because this sounds so intriguing to read, to see how it is structured, to see how the poetry is used, or if there is any prose component as this one is categorized as poetry:
The Long Take by Robin Roberston.
“Walker, a young Canadian recently demobilised after war and his active service in the Normandy landings and subsequent European operations. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and unable to face a return to his family home in rural Nova Scotia, he goes in search of freedom, change, anonymity and repair. We follow Walker through a sequence of poems as he moves through post-war American cities of New York, Los Angles and San Francisco.”
I’ve added almost all of the books to my TBR, but some were already on there before the list was announced. It’s a good list I think!? Makes me long for the days when we were a part of BookerMarks and we could spend the next couple of months reading and debating our favourites. :-)
This is a longlist where I am very encouraged to read almost all of the books listed. Many are very new to me titles. What do you think of the list? Are there any books that you thought were a sure bet to be here, but you don’t see? Which one do you think you’ll read first? (Some of these aren’t yet published, but don’t come with a lengthy wait like sometimes happened in past years.) Two books are Canadian, and one (The Long Take) is set in Canada!
The shortlist of six books will be announced on Thursday 20 September.
The 2018 winner will then be announced on Tuesday 16 October (in London’s Guildhall at a black-tie dinner, one of the highlights of the publishing year. The ceremony will be broadcast by the BBC.)
Happy start to Book Award Season! I can’t believe it’s already starting! The announcement of the Man Booker gets me excited because it means Giller Prize time is almost upon us too!
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