The Man Booker Prize aka Booker Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language,
and published in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland.
Up until 2014, Booker prize was only awarded authors from the UK and Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe, now it is open for all nationalities around the world as long as their work is in English and published in the UK.
2019's Booker Prize was the first time, the prize was jointly shared by two authors.
Booker Prize
Basic Facts
- First awarded in – 1969.
- Former Name – Booker-McConnell Prize.
- Location – Guildhall, London.
- Presented by –
- Man Group (until 31 May 2019),
- Crankstart (01 June 2019 onwards).
- Prize –
- Shortlisted authors – £ 2,500 & a designer bound copy of their book.
- Winners – £ 50,000, trophy plus £ 2,500 & a designer bound copy of their book.
- First Booker Prize Winner – P. H. Newby (Something to Answer For).
- First Woman to win the Booker Prize – Bernice Rubens (The Elected Member, 1970).
- First Person of Indian origin to win Booker Prize – V.S. Naipaul.
- First Indian Woman to win Man Booker Prize – Arundhati Roy.
- First time Booker Prize was Jointly shared – 2019.
- Margaret Atwood (The Testaments),
- Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other).
- First Black Woman to win the Booker Prize – Bernardine Evaristo.
- First Black British writer to win the Booker Prize – Bernardine Evaristo.
- Oldest Person to win Booker Prize – Margaret Atwood (Canada, 70-year-old).
List of Booker Prize Winners of Indian Origin
| Author | Year | Book |
|---|---|---|
| V. S Naipaul | 1971 | In a Free State |
| Salman Rushdie | 1981 | Midnight's Children |
| Arundhati Roy | 1997 | The God of Small Things |
| Kiran Desai | 2006 | The Inheritance of Loss |
| Aravind Adiga | 2008 | The White Tiger |
Other Booker Nominees of Indian Origin
The Indian novelists who were shortlisted for Booker prize are as
follows:
- V. S. Naipaul – A Bend in the River (1979)
- Anita Desai – 3 Nominations
- Clear Light of Day (1980)
- In Custody (1984)
- Fasting, Feasting (1999)
- Salman Rushdie – 4 Nominations
- Shame (1983)
- The Satanic Verses (1988)
- The Moor's Last Sigh (1995)
- Quichotte (1999)
- Rohinton Mistry – 3 nominations
- Such a Long Journey (1991)
- A Fine Balance (1996)
- Family Matters (2002)
- Indra Sinha – Animal's People (2007)
- Amitav Ghosh – Sea of Poppies (2008)
- Jeet Thayil – Narcopolis (2012)
📝SideNotes:
- Margaret Atwood previously won Booker Prize for The Blind Assassin in 2000.
- Only short story collection to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize – The Beggar Maid (Alice Munro, 1980)
* Updated according to current statistics as on 2021.