Inside story as odds shorten on debut writer’s Booker bid
WALK PAST Waterstones in York and it’s impossible to not to miss Fiona Mozley’s debut novel. Dozens of copies have taken over one entire window and there is a message of support from the staff for a fellow bookshop worker – Mozley wrote which has found itself on this year’s Man Booker Prize shortlist, while juggling a part-time job at the Little Apple Bookshop just around the corner.
Muscling in alongside famous names like Ali Smith and Paul Auster, the novel is this year’s wild card and Mozley’s publishers John Murray have unsurprisingly been making hay while the sun shines with full page advertisements for appearing in this weekend’s review section. The PR onslaught appears to be working, with Mozley creeping up the betting odds, but can she really walk off with the top prize?
Well, stranger things have happened in the world of the Man Booker. Back in 2005, by the relatively unknown John Banville, saw off the likes of Sebastian Barry and Julian Barnes. The announcement didn’t go down entirely well, with one critic describing it as “possibly the most perverse decision in the history of the award”. However, should Mozley do the unthinkable, the reception should be a few degrees warmer.
“I’ve just started reading it and it is an incredible debut,” says poet Helen Mort, who grew up near Sheffield.
“It’s quite mesmerising in the way that the landscape is equal to any of the characters in the book. Fiona might be the least known of any of the author’s up for the Man Booker, but once you are on the shortlist anything can happen.”
Mort knows a thing or two about judging panels. She was part of this year’s Man Booker International Prize for novels in translation and got through 120 books before reaching a winner. “There was a point where I was reading a novel a day.
“I know when it comes to awards, there will always be people who say, ‘why did they choose one author over another’?, but from my experience what I would say is that judges come to see novels very differently from the average reader. You have to read the same book two or three times in a short space of time and that can really alter your perspective. I know that with some of the books I read for the International Prize I changed my mind about them two or three times throughout the judging process.
“Comparing books is like comparing apples and pears. However, he judging process tends to look at how well an author achieved their intention whether that be a complex interrogation of a book or one which takes its lead from magical realism.”
The world of publishing is a notoriously gossipy snake pit, but Mort, who is a lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, says her experience of a judging panel couldn’t have been more friendly.
“Right from the start our chair of judges Nick Barley said that we should respect each book equally and if we met any one of the 120 authors we should be able to say something we admired about their work. I think that’s a really nice basis on which to start any judging process.”
As a writer, Mort has been in Mozley’s position. Her 2013 collection
was shortlisted for both the Costa Book Award and the TS Eliot Prize.
“I didn’t write a speech as I was pretty sure I wouldn’t win and I didn’t. I know it’s a bit of a cliché to say being shortlisted is the prize in itself, but it’s true. Yes, being up for big awards helps sales – continues to enjoy steady sales, but it’s more than that. It gives you a connection with a readership who might otherwise not know you are out there and that’s worth more than even a cheque for £50,000.”
The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2017 will be announced on October 17.