Anna Burns wins Man Booker Prize
LONDON — Anna Burns has won the prestigious Man Booker prize for fiction with “Milkman,” a vibrant, violent story about men, women, power and conflict set during Northern Ireland’s years of Catholic-Protestant violence.
Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to win the 50,000 pound ($66,000) prize, and open to English-language authors from around the world. She received her trophy from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony Tuesday at London’s medieval Guildhall.
“Milkman” is narrated by a young woman dealing with an older man who uses family ties, social pressure and political loyalties as a weapon of sexual harassment. Judging panel chair Kwame Anthony Appiah said those are timely themes.
Also competing for the Booker were American writer Richard Powers’ arboreal novel “The
Overstory;” Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan’s “Washington Black,” about a slave who escapes from a sugar plantation in a hot-air balloon; British author Daisy Johnson’s Greek tragedyinspired family saga “Everything Under;” U.S. novelist Rachel Kushner’s “The Mars Room,” about a woman serving life in prison; and Robin Robertson’s “The Long Take,” a verse novel about a traumatized D-Day veteran journeying through troubled post-war American cities.
The prize, subject to intense speculation and lively betting, usually brings the victor a huge boost in sales and profile.
This year’s judges have favoured new talent over more established names. Of the six finalists, only Edugyan has been nominated before — for “HalfBlood Blues” in 2011 — and favourites including Canada’s Michael Ondaatje didn’t make the cut from the 13-novel longlist.
Founded in 1969, the prize was originally open to British, Irish and Commonwealth writers. Americans have been eligible since 2014, and there have been two American winners — Paul Beatty’s “The Sellout” in 2016 and George Saunders’ “Lincoln in the Bardo” in 2017.
This year’s finalists included three U.K. authors, two Americans and a Canadian. A third consecutive American victor would have raised fears among some U.K. writers and publishers that the prize was becoming too U.S.-centric.