Four Irish authors longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize

Ireland has now produced the most nominees, relative to population size, in the Booker Prize’s history

Tue, 01 Aug, 2023 - 12:55

Maeve Lee

Four Irish authors have been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, marking a new record in the influential award’s history.

As part of the prestigious prize, a long list of 13 books chosen by the 2023 judging panel was revealed on Tuesday. The list — known as the ‘Booker Dozen’ — includes four Irish authors.

Making up almost a third of the longlist, the inclusion of four Irish authors on this year’s list means Ireland has now produced the most nominees, relative to population size, in the prize’s history.

In total, 37 Irish authors have now been recognised by the highly esteemed prize, which rewards the world's best fiction.

This year’s long list selection was made from over 160 books that explore a variety of themes, from moving personal dramas to scientific breakthroughs.

Among those on the list is Old God's Time (Faber & Faber) by Irish author Sebastian Barry as well as Elaine Feeney’s How to Build a Boat (Harvill Secker); Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song (Oneworld) and Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting (Hamish Hamilton).

The inclusion of Sebastian Barry means that the Irish man now joins a group of ten writers who have been nominated for the Booker Prize at least five times. Belfast writer Anna Burns' was Ireland's last winner with Milkman in 2018, while Anne Enright had taken the prize in 2007 for The Gathering.

‘All 13 novels cast new light on what it means to exist in our time.’

We are delighted to reveal the #BookerPrize2023 longlist. Huge congratulations to the authors who make up this year's Booker Dozen. 🎉

Find out more: https://t.co/0vTNpasvxq pic.twitter.com/PCAF1BDndC
— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) August 1, 2023

The announcement comes ahead of the release of a shortlist of six books on September 21. The winner of the £50,000 prize will then be announced at an event at Old Billingsgate, London, on November 26, 2023.

Last year, Shehan Karunatilaka became the second Sri Lankan author to win the Booker Prize for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.

The 2023 judging panel is chaired by twice-shortlisted novelist Esi Edugyan. She is joined by actor, writer and director Adjoa Andoh; poet, lecturer, editor and critic Mary Jean Chan; author and professor James Shapiro; and actor and writer Robert Webb.

The 13 books on the longlist for the 2023 Booker Prize.

Speaking on this year’s longlist, Esi Edugyan said the list is defined by its “freshness” and the irreverence of new voices, by the iconoclasm of established ones.”.

“All 13 novels cast new light on what it means to exist in our time, and they do so in original and thrilling ways. Their range is vast, both in subject and form: they shocked us, made us laugh, filled us with anguish, but above all they stayed with us.

“This is a list to excite, challenge, delight, a list to bring wonder. The novels are small revolutions, each seeking to energise and awaken the language. Together – whether historical or contemporary – they offer startling portraits of the current.”

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that the “range of experience, expertise and sensibility” among this year’s judges led them to “seek novels that both advanced the form and allowed the reader to understand something about the world”.

The Booker Prize is open to works of long-form fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK or Ireland. This year’s selection was made from books published between October 2022 and September 2023.

The longlist also includes four debut novelists: Jonathan Escoffery, Siân Hughes, Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow and Chetna Maroo while seven of those selected come from independently-owned publishers.

Longlist for the Booker Prize 2023