Man Booker shortlist revealed

THE SIX authors shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction were announced by 2017 chair of judges Baroness Lola Young, at a press conference at the offices of prize sponsor Man Group on Sept13. They include: Paul Auster ( 4321, Faber); Emily Fridlund ( History of Wolves, Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Mohsin Hamid ( Exit West, Hamish Hamilton); Fiona Mozley ( Elmet, Originals) George Saunders ( Lincoln in the Bardo, Bloomsbury Publishing); and

Ali Smith Hamilton) The works by three women and three men cover a wide range of subjects, from the struggle of a family trying to retain its self- Faber & ( Autumn, JM Hamish sufficiency in rural England to a love story between two refugees seeking to flee an unnamed city in the throes of civil war.

Smith and Hamid both add to their previous shortlistings, while Mozley is the youngest author up for the prize at 29.

Young said that “the novels [chosen], each in its own way, challenge and subtly shift our preconceptions – about the nature of love, about the experience of time, about questions of identity and even death”.

The judging panel also consists of literary critic Lila Azam Zanganeh, Man Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Sarah Hall, artist Tom Phillips, and travel writer and novelist Colin Thubron.

Writers of all nationalities were made eligible to win the prize four years ago, and this year, the shortlist consists of two British, one BritishPakistani and three American writers. The winner will be announced on Oct 17. – The Independent