This year鈥檚 class of Booker Prize nominees has just been announced. The prestigious prize awards the best English-language fiction published in the UK and/or Ireland. While this is when we鈥檇 usually talk about common stylistic threads that bind the longlisted novels, the 13 books each have their unique voice.
鈥淭here is no single register here,鈥� wrote Edmund de Waal, the chair of judges, in a statement announcing the list. 鈥淲e need fiction to do different things 鈥� to renew us, give solace, to take us away from ourselves and give us back to ourselves in an expanded and reconnected way. And, of course, to entertain us.鈥�
Among the list are a handful of names familiar to American readers 鈥� Pulitzer Prize winner Hisham Matar, Rachel Kushner, Tommy Orange, and more. But three authors made the cut with their debut novel: Colin Barrett, Yael van der Wouden, and 鈥� whose novel, Headshot, follows eight women competing in a boxing competition in Nevada. In the announcement, prize judges said Bullwinkel 鈥渆levates the gritty, physical realities of sport to a profound examination of identity, destiny and family dynamics.鈥�
The shortlist will be announced in September. The winner of the prize will be announced in November. The winner will receive 50,000 British pounds (about $64,000), a trophy, and a likely bump in book sales.
Here's the full list:
- Colin Barrett, Wild Houses
- , Headshot
- , James
- , Orbital
- Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake
- , My Friends
- , This Strange Eventful History
- Anne Michaels, Held
- , Wandering Stars
- , Enlightenment
- Richard Powers, Playground
- Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep
- Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional
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