3 Nigerians make the 2019 Booker Prize longlist

Three Nigerians, Chigozie Obioma, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Bernadine Evaristo, have made the 2019 Booker Prize longlist for their novels, ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’, ‘My Sister, the Serial Killer’ and ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, respectively. This is the first nomination for Evaristo and Braithwaite, and the second for Obioma, following his 2015 shortlisted debut The Fishermen. Other […]

Three Nigerians, Chigozie Obioma, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Bernadine Evaristo, have made the 2019 Booker Prize longlist for their novels, ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’, ‘My Sister, the Serial Killer’ and ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, respectively.

This is the first nomination for Evaristo and Braithwaite, and the second for Obioma, following his 2015 shortlisted debut The Fishermen.

Other books in the list of thirteen include ‘Frankissstein’, Jeanette Winterson, ‘The Wall’, John Lanchester, ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, Bernadine Evaristo, ‘Lanny’, Max Porter, ‘The Man Who Saw Everything’, Deborah Levy, ‘The Testaments’, Margaret Atwood, ‘Ducks, Newburyport’, Lucy Ellmann, ‘10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’, Elif Shafak, ‘Night Boat to Tangier’, Kevin Barry, ‘Lost Children Archive’, Valeria Luiselli, and ‘Quichotte’ by Salman Rushdie.

The 13 novels were selected from 151 submissions. The judging panel, chaired by Hay Festival director Peter Florence comprises the former publisher and editor Liz Calder, the novelist Xiaolu Guo, the musician Joanna MacGregor, and the writer Afua Hirsch.

Formally called the Man Booker Prize, the prize has dropped ‘Man’ from its name with the Man Group having ended its sponsorship. The prize is supported by Crankstart, a charitable foundation owned by Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman.

The prize’s shortlist will be released on September 3 and the winner announced on October 14 at a ceremony in London. It is worth £50,000.