This year’s prestigious Man Booker prize list features two British Pakistanis, Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie among the 13 novelists contending for the coveted £50,000 award.
We could not be more thrilled to share that Mohsin Hamid’s EXIT WEST & @kamilashamsie‘s HOME FIRE are longlisted for the #ManBooker2017! pic.twitter.com/tyD7UsysmK
— Riverhead Books (@riverheadbooks) July 26, 2017
Mohsin Hamid’s epic romance Exit West, and Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire have been nominated for the prize.
According to Andrew Motion’s Guardian review, ‘A major part of Hamid’s achievement in Exit West is to show how profoundly social damage will injure private lives – not only in obvious ways (physical injury, homelessness), but by hampering the ability to construct any sort of life outside their sphere of influence.’
Kamila Shamsie’s ‘Home Fire’ is due to be published on September 7 this year.
Indian author Arundhati Roy’s long-awaited second novel, ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’ has also made the longlist for the Man Booker Prize – 20 years after winning the award with her first, ‘God of Small Things.’
First-time authors Emily Fridlund and Fiona Mozley also feature on the list along with the two British Smiths, Ali and Zadie.
Veteran writer Paul Auster has been recognised for the first time for the prestigious award – at the age of 70 – for ‘4 3 2 1′, his first novel in seven years.
Colson Whitehead, George Saunders and Fridlund are some of the authors from the US, whereas Mozley and Jon McGregor are the other two authors from the UK to have been nominated for the award.
Two Irish authors – Sebastian Barry and Mike McCormack- are also featured on the longest.
The list was chosen from 144 submissions published in the UK between 1 October 2016 and 30 September 2017.
2017 Man Booker Prize long-list
- Paul Auster, 4 3 2 1
- Sebastian Barry, Days Without End
- Emily Fridlund, History of Wolves
- Mohsin Hamid, Exit West
- Mike McCormack, Solar Bones
- Jon McGregor, Reservoir 13
- Fiona Mozley, Elmet
- Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
- George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
- Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire
- Ali Smith, Autumn
- Zadie Smith, Swing Time
- Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
The 62-year-old Sebastian Barry has been shortlisted for the Booker before, as have Ali Smith, Zadie Smith and Mohsin Hamid.
Baroness Lola Young, chair of the 2017 judging panel, said the 13 books “showcased a diverse spectrum – not only of voices and literary styles but of protagonists too”.
A six-strong shortlist will be announced on 13 September, ahead of the winning book being announced on 17 October.