Media. News and press releases from across Man Group.

16 February 2018

The Booker Prize Foundation today, Friday 16 February 2018, launches the Golden Man Booker Prize to mark the 50^th anniversary. This special one-off award will crown the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the prize, as chosen by five judges and then voted for by the public.

Since it was first awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize has become the leading prize for quality fiction in English, with the winning books setting a benchmark against which other novels are judged. The Golden Man Booker will put all 51 winners – which are all still in print – back under the spotlight, to discover which of them has stood the test of time, remaining relevant to readers today.

Five judges have been appointed to read the winning novels from each decade of the prize: writer and editor Robert McCrum (1970s); poet Lemn Sissay MBE (1980s); novelist Kamila Shamsie (1990s); broadcaster and novelist Simon Mayo (2000s); and poet Hollie McNish (2010s).

Each judge will choose what, in his or her opinion, is the best winner from that particular decade, and will champion that book against the other judges’ selections. The judges’ ‘Golden Five’ shortlist will be announced at the Hay Festival on 26 May 2018. The five books will then be put to a month-long public vote from 26 May to 25 June on the Man Booker Prize website to decide the overall winner, announced at the Man Booker 50 Festival on 8 July 2018.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, Chair of the Booker Prize Foundation, comments:

‘The very best fiction endures and resonates with readers long after it is written. I’m fascinated to see what our panel of excellent judges – including writers and poets, broadcasters and editors – and the readers of today make of the winners of the past, as they revisit the rich Man Booker library.’

Luke Ellis, CEO of Man Group, comments:

‘We are delighted to be sponsoring the Man Booker Prize in its 50th year and celebrating outstanding fiction from the past half century, which remains as relevant and resonant as ever. The prize plays a meaningful role in recognising and supporting literary excellence that we are honoured to support.’  

Key Dates

The Golden Man Booker Prize will be supported by retailers, libraries and publishers across the UK, and internationally through online promotion. Readers are already joining in revisiting the previous winners for the #ManBookerPrize50 challenge on Instagram, which encourages them to read as many of the novels as they can by the end of May for the chance to win tickets to the Man Booker 50 Festival.

The Man Booker 50 Festival will run from 6 to 8 July 2018 across Southbank Centre’s 17-acre site in London. Events will be held in a variety of spaces, including Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Rooms. They will range from interviews and conversations between Man Booker winning and shortlisted authors, to debates and masterclasses. The full programme and tickets will be available soon.

The 50th anniversary will also be amplified globally with Man Booker author events at international literary festivals across the world throughout the year and supported through video, livestream and podcasts, alongside an online exhibition on the Man Booker website.

The Man Booker Prize is sponsored by Man Group, an active investment management firm.

To hear the most up-to-date news on the prize, listen to the Man Booker Prize Podcast series, and learn more about the prize’s history, please visit:

www.themanbookerprize.com

@ManBookerPrize | #FinestFiction |#ManBooker50