The 2005 Man Booker Prize for Fiction longlist of books for this year has been issued. It comprises 17 books chosen from 109 entries (of which eight titles were ‘called in’ by the judges). ‘The Booker’ is generally regarded as the UK’s most prestigious fiction award.
The longlist for the 2005 Man Booker Prize for Fiction is as follows:
- The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw (Fourth Estate)
- The Sea by John Banville (Picador)
- Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape)
- A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)
- Slow Man by JM Coetzee (Secker & Warburg)
- In the Fold by Rachel Cusk (Faber & Faber)
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber & Faber)
- All For Love by Dan Jacobson (Hamish Hamilton)
- A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Viking)
- Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate)
- Saturday by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
- The People’s Act of Love by James Meek (Canongate)
- Shalimar The Clown by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape)
- The Accidental by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
- On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
- This Thing Of Darkness by Harry Thompson (Headline Review)
- This Is The Country by William Wall (Sceptre)
The Guardian’s reaction, Literary heavyweights dominate Booker longlist, states that this year’s longlist is ’short’ and concentrated in good writing:
‘On a list lacking any great surprises, shoo-ins such as Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro, both previous winners, whose novels Saturday and Never Let Me Go were hotly tipped as Booker contenders from the moment of their publication - were joined by two-time Booker-winner and 2003 Nobel laureate JM Coetzee. Salman Rushdie, who has also picked up the £50,000 cheque once before, in 1981 for Midnight’s Children, made the list for his as-yet-unpublished Shalimar the Clown. Zadie Smith also features with an unpublished novel; her third book, On Beauty, is due out in early September’.The Guardian also lists all the books with links to reviews. Also see The Times’ reaction: Terror novel earns Rushdie tilt at Booker Prize.
Timetable:
- 2005 shortlist of six announced: Thursday 8th September.
- The 2005 winner announced: Monday 10th October at an awards ceremony at Guildhall, London broadcast live on BBC TWO and BBC FOUR.
The judging panel for the 2005 Man Booker Prize for Fiction is: John Sutherland (Chair); fiction editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Lindsay Duguid; writer and antiquarian book dealer, Rick Gekoski; novelist, Josephine Hart; and literary editor of The Evening Standard, David Sexton.
The winner of the Man Booker Prize receives £50,000. The six shortlisted authors each receive a cheque for £2,500, bringing the total prize value to £65,000. A full history of the prize including previous winners, shortlisted authors and judges is available on the Man Booker Prize site. Last year’s winner was The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Picador).