Irish writers make Booker list

IRISH writer Joseph O’Neill was last night mentioned as one of the favourites to win this year’s prestigious Man Booker Prize.

The Cork-born author is being seen as a front-runner, alongside Salman Rushdie, after being listed for his latest offering Netherland.

Critics have hailed his third novel, which follows This Is The Life and The Breezes, as a post-9/11 masterpiece.

Irish author Sebastian Barry has also been included in the 13-strong list for his book, The Secret Scripture.

Rushdie, who won the award in 1981 with Midnight’s Children, has been nominated again for The Enchantress of Florence.

Bookmakers immediately named O’Neill and Rushdie as favourites for the shortlist, to be announced in September ahead of the winner a month later at a ceremony in London.

Bookmakers William Hill said that although Rushdie was a recognised heavyweight, O’Neill was attracting a lot of attention on his first time being nominated.

“Although Salman Rushdie is the man in form having won the Booker of Bookers, that book is now over 20 years old and his recent work has not been winning literary awards,” said Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for the bookmakers.

“However, Joseph O’Neill’s novel, Netherland, has been creating a real buzz”.

The Man Booker Prize was won last year by Anne Enright for The Gathering and three years ago by John Banville for The Sea.

Six of the authors are British and the others hail from Australia, Ireland, India and Pakistan.

Novelists included for the first time include Aravind Adiga, from India, long listed for The White Tiger; Australian writer Steve Toltz, for a Fraction of the Whole; Pakistan-born Londoner Mohammed Hanif for A Case of Exploding Mangoes; and Cardiff-born Gaynor Arnold for Girl in a Blue Dress.

Established authors include British novelist Linda Grant, nominated for The Clothes on Their Backs.

Philip Hensher is long- listed for his latest work, The Northern Clemency, which follows two families’ fortunes from 1974 through to the mid-1990s.