The Booker Prize 2019 Longlist has been announced and it features two books from Africa!!
The Long awaited Booker Prize longlist was finally announced in the early hours of Wednesday (24.07.2019) and was received with mixed reactions. Some predicted favourites, Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys and Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf were conspicuously missing while some nominees, former winners and 6 time nominee Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie made a return to the Booker longlist.
Notably however is the inclusion of two African books, My Sister is the Serial Killer by Onyikan Braithwaite (Nigeria), a debut longlister and An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria) who’s debut novel, The Fishermen, was also shortlisted for the Booker in 2015. My personal favourite for a longlist and possible win, The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (Zambia) is unfortunately missing from the just announced list but all in all, I am glad we get to see some diversity in this year’s list.
The Booker Prize is open to novels published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019 and this year’s longlist was chosen from 151 submissions. The list features authors from UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Nigeria, Mexico, India and Turkey.
The shortlist is set to be announced on 30.09.2019 and the winner will be announced on 14.10.2019 by a five-panel judge.
See below for the full list of the 2019 Booker Prize Longlist.
Margaret Atwood (Canada) - The Testaments (Vintage, Chatto & Windus)
Kevin Barry (Ireland) - Night Boat to Tangier (Canongate Books)
Oyinkan Braithwaite (UK/Nigeria) - My Sister, The Serial Killer (Atlantic Books)
Lucy Ellmann (USA/UK) - Ducks, Newburyport (Galley Beggar Press)
Bernardine Evaristo (UK) - Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton)
John Lanchester (UK) - The Wall (Faber & Faber)
Deborah Levy (UK) - The Man Who Saw Everything (Hamish Hamilton)
Valeria Luiselli (Mexico/Italy) - Lost Children Archive (4th Estate)
Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria) - An Orchestra of Minorities (Little Brown)
Max Porter (UK) - Lanny (Faber & Faber)
Salman Rushdie (UK/India) - Quichotte (Jonathan Cape)
Elif Shafak (UK/Turkey) - 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (Viking)
Jeanette Winterson (UK) - Frankissstein (Jonathan Cape)
Which of these books are your favourite for a win?