Media. News and press releases from across Man Group.

20 December 2016

The judges of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction are announced today, Tuesday 20 December.

The panel, which will be chaired by Baroness Lola Young, consists of: literary critic, Lila Azam Zanganeh; the Man Booker Prize shortlisted novelist, Sarah Hall; the artist, Tom Phillips CBE RA; and the travel writer, Colin Thubron CBE.

Lola Young comments on behalf of the panel:

‘It is wonderful – a real privilege – to embark on this great adventure with such an accomplished panel of judges. The prospect of getting to know each other through sharing insights and discussing this year’s finest fiction is one to relish. As always, it's a big challenge and we're all excited and ready to rise to it.’

2017 is the 49^th year of the £50,000 prize, which was launched in 1969. The 2017 judging panel will be looking for the best novel of the year, selected from entries published in the UK between 1 October 2016 and 30 September 2017.

The winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, The Sellout by Paul Beatty (Oneworld), made history when it was announced in October and Beatty became the first US author to win the prize.

In the week following the 2016 winner announcement, sales of The Sellout increased by 658%. To date over 250,000 print copies of the book have been sold internationally, and more than a dozen foreign language rights have been sold.

The ‘Man Booker Dozen’ of 12 or 13 books will be announced in July 2017 and the shortlist of six books in September 2017. The winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced on 17 October 2017 at an awards ceremony at London’s Guildhall, broadcast live by the BBC.

The Man Booker Prize is sponsored by Man Group, one of the world’s largest independent alternative investment managers.

For further information about the prize please visit www.themanbookerprize.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/ManBookerPrize