2014 Man Booker Prize

A break from the past

Previously, the prize was open only to authors from the U.K. and Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. For the first time in its 46-year history, the £50,000-prize has been opened up to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the U.K.

Former Booker winner Howard Jacobson is among the three British writers, two Americans and an Australian to make this year's shortlist.

The other writers are Neel Mukherjee, Ali Smith, Joshua Ferris, Karen Joy Fowler and Richard Flanagan.
It is the first year the prize has included US writers, having previously included those from the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe.
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on 14 October.
The shortlisted authors each receive £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.

Man Booker Prize shortlist 2014
Author	Title	Nationality
Joshua Ferris	To Rise Again at a Decent Hour	American
Richard Flanagan	The Narrow Road to the Deep North	Australian
Karen Joy Fowler	We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves	American
Howard Jacobson	J	British
Neel Mukherjee	The Lives of Others	British
Ali Smith	How to be Both	British

Kolkata-born British author Neel Mukherjee’s latest novel The Lives of Others, set in troubled Bengal of the 1960s and centred around a dysfunctional family, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize

 

“We are delighted to announce our international shortlist. As the Man Booker Prize expands its borders, these six exceptional books take the reader on journeys around the world, between the U.K., New York, Thailand, Italy, Calcutta and times past, present and future,” said A.C. Grayling, chair of the 2014 judging panel.

“We had a lengthy and intensive debate to whittle the list down to these six. It is a strong, thought-provoking shortlist which we believe demonstrates the wonderful depth and range of contemporary fiction in English,” he added.