Man Booker International Prize plans announcement in Cape Town

22 February 2014

The list of finalists has traditionally been announced in a city other than London, with previous announcements having taken place in Toronto, Washington DC, New York, Sydney and Jaipur.

The Man Booker International Prize recognises one writer for his or her achievement in fiction. Worth £60,000 to the winner, the prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.

The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel; there are no submissions from publishers. Previous winners have been Lydia Davis (2013), Philip Roth (2011), Alice Munro (2009), Chinua Achebe (2007) and Ismail Kadare (2005). In addition, there is a separate award for translation and, if applicable, the winner can choose a translator of his or her work into English to receive a prize of £15,000.

The judging panel for the Man Booker International Prize 2015 is chaired by Marina Warner CBE, the writer and academic and consists of novelist Nadeem Aslam; novelist, critic and Professor of English at Oxford University Elleke Boehmer; Editorial Director of the New York Review Classics series, Edwin Frank and Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at SOAS, University of London, Wen-chin Ouyang.

Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the Man Booker International Prize, commented,
“We are in conversation with a number of potential partners in Cape Town, including the University of Cape Town, to firm up plans for an announcement in March 2015. We’re delighted to be bringing the announcement to the continent of Africa for the first time.”

The prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. The Man Booker International Prize is significantly different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlights one writer’s overall contribution to fiction on the world stage. In seeking out literary excellence the judges consider a writer's body of work rather than a single novel.

For further information about the prize please visit www.themanbookerprize.com

Contact

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    Man Group, Communications Director
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    FTI Consulting
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