Punjab-origin British novelist Sahota on Booker longlist
SAHOTA WAS PREVIOUSLY SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 BOOKER PRIZE FOR ‘THE YEAR OF THE RUNAWAYS’ AND WAS A WINNER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR LITERATURE IN 2017
LONDON: Indian-origin British novelist Sunjeev Sahota is among 13 authors longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize for fiction for “China Room”, a novel described by the judges on Tuesday as a “brilliant twist” on the immigrant experience.
The 40-year-old, whose grandparents emigrated from Punjab in the 1960s, has been previously shortlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize for “The Year of the Runaways” and is a winner of the European Union Prize for Literature in 2017.
His novel “China Room” was chosen from 158 published in the UK or Ireland between October 2020 and September 2021 for the prize open to works by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK or Ireland.
“Weaving together two timelines and two continents, “China Room” struck us as a brilliant twist on the novel of immigrant experience, considering in subtle and moving ways the trauma handed down from one generation to the next,” the Booker Prize judges noted.
“In crisp, clean prose, and with a dash of melodramatic action, Sahota turns these heavy themes into something filled with love, hope and humour,” they said.
Sahota is joined on the 2021 longlist by previous winner British Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro for “Klara and the Sun” and other previously shortlisted authors South African Damon Galut for “The Promise” and American Richard Powers for “Bewilderment”. The shortlist of six books will be announced in London on September 14, with the shortlisted authors each set to receive 2,500 pounds and a specially bound edition of their book.
The 2021 winner, to receive 50,000 pounds, will be announced on November 3 in an award ceremony held in partnership with the BBC at Broadcasting House’s Radio Theatre.