Two Irish authors make Booker prize shortlist
The prize, which is worth €74,000 to the winner, as well as a massive surge in sales, included three Irish authors when the long list was announced in August. But Cork novelist William Wall failed to make the shortlist of six for his work This is the Country.
It is Banville’s second time being shortlisted, with his 1989 novel The Book of Evidence previously making the last six. Sebastian Barry has never been nominated for the Booker before.
Banville’s novel The Sea is in contention this year, with Barry’s book A Long Long Way also vying for the big prize. The other contenders are Julian Barnes for Arthur & George, Kazuo Ishiguro for Never Let Me Go, Ali Smith for The Accidental, and Zadie Smith for On Beauty.
Both Irish authors saw off some stiff opposition to get this far, including previous Booker winners Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan, as well as Nobel-Prize winning novelist JM Coetzee.
“The strength of the year’s competition can be measured by the fact that three good books by three previous Man Booker winners were finally not selected,” said John Sutherland, chair of the judges for this year’s Booker.
“This shortlist, we believe, witnesses to the remarkable quality of the current state of fiction.”
The bookies’ favourite to win is Julian Barnes, while Sebastian Barry is seen as something of an outsider, provoking surprise in some quarters at his inclusion in the final six.
Previous Irish disappointments sound a note of caution for the Irish authors, however - both John McGahern and Colm Tóibín have made the shortlist in the past, for Amongst Women and The Master, but failed to take the big prize.
Roddy Doyle’s 1993 novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, is the last Irish book to have taken the prize.
All shortlisted authors can expect a massive increase in sales, as well as a cheque for €3,700 just for making the last six.
The overall winner will be announced in London at a ceremony on October 10.
