2014 Man Booker Prize: shortlist announced

  

Joshua Ferris, Richard Flanagan, Karen Joy Fowler, Howard Jacobson, Neel

Mukherjee and Ali Smith are today, Tuesday 9 September, announced as the shortlisted authors for the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

Their names were revealed by chair of judges, AC Grayling, at a press conference at the headquarters of Man Group, a leading investment management firm and the prize’s sponsor since 2002.

The judges praised the ‘depth and range’ of the list, which includes writers from Britain, the United States and Australia.

The shortlist of six, taken from a longlist of 13, is:

Author (nationality)                  Title (imprint)

Joshua Ferris (US)                          To Rise Again at a Decent Hour (Viking)

Richard Flanagan (Australian)     The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Chatto & Windus)

Karen Joy Fowler (US)                   We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Serpent's Tail)

Howard Jacobson (British)           J (Jonathan Cape)

Neel Mukherjee (British)              The Lives of Others (Chatto & Windus)

Ali Smith (British)                          How to be Both (Hamish Hamilton)

Chair of the 2014 judges, AC Grayling, comments on behalf of the judges:

‘We are delighted to announce our international shortlist. As the Man Booker Prize expands its borders, these six exceptional books take the reader on journeys around the world, between the UK, New York, Thailand, Italy, Calcutta and times past, present and future.

‘We had a lengthy and intensive debate to whittle the list down to these six.  It is a strong, thought-provoking shortlist which we believe demonstrates the wonderful depth and range of contemporary fiction in English.’

This is the first list to reflect the diversity of the novel in English regardless of the author’s nationality, as the Man Booker Prize has opened up to any author writing originally in English and published in the UK. Previously, the prize was open to authors from the UK & Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe.

Two authors have previously appeared on the prize shortlist. Howard Jacobson is a former winner of the prize, with The Finkler Question, in 2010. Ali Smith has been shortlisted twice before, with The Accidental (2005) and Hotel World (2001).

AC Grayling is joined on the 2014 panel of judges by: Jonathan Bate; Sarah Churchwell; Daniel Glaser; Alastair Niven and Erica Wagner. The 2014 judges will now re-read the shortlisted titles in order to select the winner, whose name will be revealed on Tuesday 14 October 2014 at a ceremony at London’s Guildhall. The winner announcement will be televised by the BBC, the prize’s media partner.

Man Group has sponsored the prize since 2002. A leading investment management firm, Man Group was recognised as a partner who mirrored the quality, integrity and longevity of the Booker Prize.