LONDON: Former winner Hilary Mantel and radical contemporary author Will Self have both made the shortlist for Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction, it was announced yesterday.
The six-person list included authors from Britain, India and Malaysia. The winner, due to be announced at London’s Guildhall on Oct. 16, receives £ 50,000 ($ 80,000, 62,500 euros).
Mantel, from Britain, was listed for her novel “Bring up the Bodies,” a sequel to her 2009 Booker winner “Wolf Hall.”
They are the first and second volumes of a trilogy on Thomas Cromwell, king Henry VIII’s chief minister.
Five judges whittled down the longlist to six writers, all of whom explored the common themes of old age, memory and loss, according to the panel.
The longlist of 12 titles, selected from a total of 145 books, shunned a string of big-name writers.
“After re-reading an extraordinary longlist of 12, it was the pure power of prose that settled most debates,” Peter Stothard, chair of judges, told a London press conference.
“We loved the shock of language shown in so many different ways and were exhilarated by the vigour and vividly defined values in the six books that we chose — and in the visible confidence of the novel’s place in forming our words and ideas,” he added.
Indian writer Jeet Thayil is recognized for his work “Narcopolis,” which explores heroin addiction in Mumbai.
Tan Twan Eng’s novel “The Garden of Evening Mists” tells the story of a Malaysian former Supreme Court judge who retires from public service in Kuala Lumpur to return to the Cameron Highlands.
Self, a controversial and high-profile British literary figure, has been nominated for the first time for his experimental modernist work “Umbrella.”
Shortlist:
Tan Twan Eng — “The Garden of Evening Mists“
Deborah Levy — “Swimming Home“
Hilary Mantel — “Bring up the Bodies“
Alison Moore — “The Lighthouse“
Will Self — “Umbrella“
Jeet Thayil — “Narcopolis“
Mantel and Self make Booker Prize shortlist
