Booker Prize

For the related prize given for a book translated to English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland, see International Booker Prize.

The Booker Prize
Awarded forBest work of sustained fiction of the year, written in English and published in the UK or Ireland
LocationSomerset House, Strand, London, England
CountryUnited Kingdom Edit this on Wikidata
Presented by
Reward(s)£50,000
First awarded1969; 55 years ago (1969)
Websitewww.thebookerprizes.com

The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, which was published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize receives £50,000, as well as international publicity that usually leads to a significant sales boost.[1] When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth, Irish, and South African (and later Zimbabwean) citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2014, eligibility was widened to any English-language novel—a change that proved controversial.[2][3]

A five-person panel consisting of authors, publishers and journalists, as well as politicians, actors, artists and musicians,[4] is appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation each year to choose the winning book.[5][6] As of 2024, the chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation is Gaby Wood.[7][8][9]

A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with anticipation and fanfare around the world.[10] Literary critics have noted that it is a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist or to be nominated for the "longlist".[1]

A sister prize, the International Booker Prize, is awarded for a work of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Unlike the Booker Prize, short story collections are eligible for the International Booker Prize. The £50,000 prize money is split evenly between the author and translator of the winning novel.[11]

  1. ^ a b Sutherland, John (9 October 2008). "The Booker's Big Bang". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Booker 2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "'A surprise and a risk': Reaction to Booker Prize upheaval". BBC News. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  4. ^ "The Booker Prize 2024". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  5. ^ "The Booker Prize | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Gaby Wood at The Booker Prizes.
  8. ^ Flood, Alison (30 April 2015). "Gaby Wood, head of books at Daily Telegraph, appointed as new literary director of Booker prize foundation". The Guardian.
  9. ^ Jennifer (20 April 2015), "Booker Prize Foundation Hints at New Direction with Appointment of Gaby Wood as Literary Director", Books Live, Sunday Times (South Africa).
  10. ^ Hoover, Bob (10 February 2008). "'Gathering' storm clears for prize winner Enright". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2008. In America, literary prizes are greeted with the same enthusiasm as a low Steelers draft choice. Not so in the British Isles, where the $98,000 Man Booker Fiction Prize can even push Amy Winehouse off the front page – at least for a day. The atmosphere around the award approaches sports-championship proportions, with London bookies posting the ever-changing odds on the nominees. Then, in October when the winner is announced live on the BBC TV evening news, somebody always gets ticked off.
  11. ^ "The Booker Prizes". Booker Prize Foundation.