2023 Booker Prize Explained

The Booker Prize is an annual literary award given for the best English-language novel of the year published in either the United Kingdom or Ireland.[1] The 2023 winner was Paul Lynch's Prophet Song.

The 2023 longlist was announced on 1 August.[2] The shortlist, announced on 21 September,[3] consisted of six books from six different authors, one British, one Canadian, two Irish, and two American. For all six authors, this marked the first time that they had appeared in a Booker Prize shortlist.[4] For two writers, Escoffery and Maroo, the shortlist honour was given for their debut novels.[5] With the 2023 longlisting for her work All the Little Bird-Hearts, Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow became the first person with autism to be nominated for a Booker prize.[6] Regarding the 2023 shortlisted works, novelist and chair of the Booker Prize Judging Panel, Esi Edugyan stated "This year's novels offer a full range of lived experience, the books refuse easy categorization. No one voice, no one vision dominates."[7]

The winner was announced on 26 November 2023, at the Old Billingsgate in London.[8] The £50,000 prize was won by Paul Lynch of Ireland for his novel Prophet Song.[9] [3] Esi Edugyan stated that the work was a "triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave". Edugyan also stated that the book's depiction of war and the migrant crisis "captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment."[10]

The keynote speaker for the award ceremony was Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in an Iranian prison for about six years and released in March 2022. Zaghari-Ratcliffe explained how books that were smuggled to her had helped her during her time in solitary confinement.[11]

Judging panel

Nominees

Shortlist

AuthorTitleGenre(s)CountryPublisher
Paul LynchProphet SongNovelIrelandOneworld Publications
Paul MurrayThe Bee StingNovelIrelandHamish Hamilton
Chetna MarooWestern LaneNovelKenya/EnglandPicador
Paul HardingThis Other EdenNovelUSAHutchinson Heinemann
Jonathan EscofferyIf I Survive YouNovelUSA4th Estate
Sarah BernsteinStudy for ObedienceNovelCanadaGranta Books

Longlist

AuthorTitleGenre(s)CountryPublisher
Tan Twan EngThe House of DoorsNovelMalaysiaCanongate
Martin MacInnesIn AscensionNovelScotlandAtlantic Books
Viktoria Lloyd-BarlowAll the Little Bird-HeartsNovelEnglandTinder Press
Siân HughesPearlNovelEnglandIndigo Press
Elaine FeeneyHow to Build a BoatNovelIrelandHarvill Secker
Sebastian BarryOld God's TimeNovelIrelandFaber & Faber
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀A Spell of Good ThingsNovelNigeria/EnglandCanongate
Paul MurrayThe Bee StingNovelIrelandHamish Hamilton
Chetna MarooWestern LaneNovelKenya/EnglandPicador
Paul LynchProphet SongNovelIrelandOneworld Publications
Paul HardingThis Other EdenNovelUSAHutchinson Heinemann
Jonathan EscofferyIf I Survive YouNovelUSA4th Estate
Sarah BernsteinStudy for ObedienceNovelCanadaGranta Books

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About the Booker Prize . The Booker Prizes . 27 November 2023 . 27 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127173200/https://thebookerprizes.com/booker-prize/about-the-booker-prize . live .
  2. Web site: The Booker Prize 2023 longlist . thebookerprizes.com . August 2023 . The Booker Prizes . 22 September 2023 . 22 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231022161924/https://thebookerprizes.com/media-centre/press-releases/original-and-thrilling-booker-prize-2023-longlist-announced . live .
  3. Web site: The Booker Prize 2023 . thebookerprizes.com . Booker Prizes . 22 September 2023 . en . 1 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230801092400/https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2023 . live .
  4. Web site: Creamer . Ella . Just one British writer makes the Booker prize shortlist . The Guardian . 21 September 2023 . 27 November 2023 . 27 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127093853/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/21/booker-shortlist-2023-just-one-british-writer-chetna-maroo . live .
  5. News: Razzall . Katie . Booker Prize 2023 shortlist: Who are the six authors hoping to win tonight? . 27 November 2023 . 26 November 2023 . 26 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231126215758/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67518323 . live .
  6. Web site: Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow interview: 'I'd be happy for more autistic writers to be celebrated' The Booker Prizes . thebookerprizes.com . en . 21 August 2023 . 4 December 2023 . 4 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231204154749/https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/viktoria-lloyd-barlow-interview-id-be-happy-for-more-autistic-writers . live .
  7. News: Nguyen . Sophia . Here are the 6 finalists for the 2023 Booker Prize023 Booker Prize . Washington Post . 27 November 2023 . en . 21 September 2023 . 26 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026213614/https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/09/21/booker-prize-shortlist-2023/ . live .
  8. Web site: Your Guide to Reading the Booker Prize Shortlist . russh.com . Russh Media Pty Ltd . 22 September 2023 . en . 22 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231022161924/https://www.russh.com/booker-prize-shortlist-2023/#:~:text=The%20winner%20of%20the%202023,Billingsgate%2C%20London%20on%20November%2026. . live .
  9. News: Paul Lynch Wins Booker Prize for 'Prophet Song' . https://web.archive.org/web/20231126223244/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/26/arts/paul-lynch-booker-prophet-song.html . 26 November 2023 . The New York Times . 26 November 2023 . Marshall . Alex .
  10. Web site: Marshall . Alex . Paul Lynch Wins Booker Prize for 'Prophet Song' . The New York Times . 26 November 2023 . 27 November 2023 . 27 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127131118/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/26/arts/paul-lynch-booker-prophet-song.html#:~:text=The%20judges%20for%20the%20prestigious,an%20Ireland%20descending%20into%20totalitarianism. . live .
  11. Web site: Creamer . Ella . 'Soul-shattering' Prophet Song by Paul Lynch wins 2023 Booker prize . The Guardian . 26 November 2023 . 27 November 2023 . 27 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127173547/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/26/booker-prize-2023-prophet-song-paul-lynch-novel-wins . live .

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