University collaboration for Man Booker Prize

Two exciting new partnerships announced

The Booker Prize Foundation is delighted to announce two exciting new partnerships, one with Georgetown University, USA and the other with the University of East Anglia in the UK. The two projects are a fitting culmination to the year in which the prize celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Georgetown University

The entire freshman class of around 1,600 students, whether they are studying International Politics, Accounting, Nursing, or English Literature, will be required to read a designated novel from the shortlist of the previous year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

The author of the featured book will be invited to the University to speak to the students and, for this, he or she will receive a substantial honorarium, thanks to an endowment left to the University by the Marino family.

The 2008 winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, Aravind Adiga, will be the first author to visit Georgetown University as part of the collaboration in September 2009.

Professor Father Alvaro Ribeiro SJ, of the Georgetown Department of English Literature has taught a course on Man Booker Prize fiction at Georgetown University since 1995 and will be responsible for the project. He comments, "I am delighted at the prospect of the Man Booker Prize establishing an institutional connection with an American University.  From Georgetown University's perspective, the arrangement harmonizes perfectly with the University's global outreach and the Marino Family's international cultural interests"

University of East Anglia

In the UK, the University of East Anglia (UEA) will offer an annual UEA Booker scholarship to be awarded to a student on the prose fiction strand of the Creative Writing MA. The first award will be made in 2009.

This scholarship will be jointly funded by UEA and the Booker Prize Foundation and, in keeping with the parameters of the prize, will be open to graduates from all Commonwealth countries and Ireland.  The award will cover academic fees, travel and living costs and will be given to a student admitted to the Creative Writing MA programme. For further information about how to apply please contact the Postgraduate Admissions Office in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at UEA. 

The UEA is no stranger to the prize, with a number of shortlisted or winning authors - including Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Anne Enright and Rose Tremain - having studied there. Other writers and critics associated with UEA - Malcolm Bradbury, Lorna Sage and Giles Foden amongst them - have acted as judges for the prize.  

Professor Jon Cook, Dean of Faculty Arts and Humanities at UEA, comments, "We are delighted at the news of this award. It will enable us to support talented writers from many different parts of the world and deepen our contribution to an international literary culture."

Jonathan Taylor CBE, Chair of the Booker Prize Foundation, comments, "It is good to see a literary prize not only rewarding outstanding writers of literary fiction but also seeking to help develop future writers. We are delighted to have these two partnerships on both sides of the Atlantic."

- ends -

For further information and press enquiries please contact

Lucy Chavasse or Jill Cotton at Colman Getty

Tel: 020 7631 2666

E-mail: lucy@colmangetty.co.uk or

jill@colmangetty.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

 

 

 

The V&A Museum is currently hosting an exhibition - The Booker 40 at the V&A - which tells the visual story of the prize over the years.  The display includes every book which has won since 1969 as well as a wide selection of shortlisted titles and one of the original Booker trophies. It examines what made ‘The Booker' one of the most talked about and influential literary prizes in the English speaking world. It opened on 6th September and will run until 17th May 2009. For further information please visit http://www.vam.ac.uk/.

The British Council is working towards the creation of an online collection of contemporary British literature and is in negotiation with publishers to include former winners of the Booker Prize and Man Booker Prize as e-books, which can be purchased. 

 

 

Man is a world-leading alternative investment management business. With a broad range of funds for institutional and private investors globally, it is known for its performance, innovative product design and investor service. Man manages around USD60 billion* and employs 1,800 people in 13 countries worldwide.

 

The original business was founded in 1783. Today, Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is ranked in the FTSE 100 index, with a market capitalisation of around USD5 billion*.

 

Man supports many awards, charities and initiatives around the world, including sponsorship of the Man Booker literary prizes and the Man Group International Climate Change Award. In the year to March 2008 the Man Group plc Charitable Trust gave 12% of its $12m charitable budget to charities concerned with improving literacy. A major contribution in the literacy category was a £1m pledge to the ‘Every Child a Reader' reading recovery programme spread over three years from 2006. Other sizeable donations were made to Dyslexia Action and Kids Company Reading Recovery Teachers, whilst smaller contributions were made to Write to Life, Bookaid International, Volunteer Reading Help, The Shannon Trust, RNIB Talking Books and St. Petrock's (Exeter). Further information can be found at www.mangroupplc.com.

* Estimated at the beginning of November 2008

 

 

The Man Booker Prize Fiction at its finest