Five American Authors Make Longlist for 2016 Man Booker Prize

Posted on July 28, 2016

The longlist for the 2016 Man Booker Prize has been announced. There are thirteen novels on the longlist, including a number of books by American writers. The U.S. nominees include Paul Beatty for The Sellout (Oneworld), David Means for Hystopia (Faber & Faber), Ottessa Moshfegh for Eileen (Jonathan Cape), Virginia Reeves for Work Like Any Other (Scribner UK) and Elizabeth Strout for My Name Is Lucy Barton (Viking).

Six of the authors who made the list are from the United Kingdom: Wyl Menmuir for The Many (Salt), A.L. Kennedy for Serious Sweet (Jonathan Cape), Deborah Levy for Hot Milk (Hamish Hamilton), Graeme Macrae Burnet for His Bloody Project (Contraband) and Ian McGuire for The North Water (Scribner UK).

The list is rounded out with J.M Coetzee, who is South African- Australian, for The Schooldays of Jesus (Harvill Secker) and two Canadian authors: David Szalay for All That Man Is (Jonathan Cape) and Madeleine Thien for Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Granta Books).

J.M. Coetzee has won the award twice already, for Life & Times of Michael K and Disgrace. Four of the entries are debut novels: Hystopia, The Many, Eileen and Work Like Any Other. The list will be whittled down to six finalists which will be announced on Tuesday, September 13th. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 25th at a black tie dinner at London's Guildhall which will be broadcast on the BBC. The winner will receive a check for £50,000.