2013 Man Booker Prize Shortlist Announced

Posted on September 13, 2013

The 2013 Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced. The shortlist was announced by Chair of Judges Robert Macfarlane. The longlist of 13 books was whittled down to the following six books:

• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)
• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Granta)
• Harvest by Jim Crace (Picador)
• The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)
• The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Viking)

Macfarlane said in a statement, "Global in its reach, this exceptional shortlist demonstrates the vitality and range of the contemporary novel at its finest. These six superb works of fiction take us from gold-rush New Zealand to revolutionary Calcutta, from modern-day Japan to the Holy Land of the Gospels, and from Zimbabwe to the deep English countryside. World-spanning in their concerns, and ambitious in their techniques, they remind us of the possibilities and power of the novel as a form."

Jim Grace and Colm Toibin have both been shortlisted before. This are four female writers shortlisted this year. They are all first time nominees. Eleanor Catton, 27, is the youngest writer on the list.

The winner will be announced on October 15 at a ceremony at London's Guildhall. The winner will receive a cash prize of 50,000 pounds.

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