The five Man Booker 2008 Judging Panel

2008 panel speak out about judging experience

Highs and lows revealed following winner announcement

21 October 2008

After months of being sworn to secrecy and holding poker faces at literary parties, the panel for the Man Booker Prize 2008 is now able to speak freely about its judging experience.

Speaking to press, Michael Portillo, Chair of the 2008 panel explained that the final meeting had been "emotionally draining" and admitted that they had fought over two novels in the final stages. He went on to underline that although there was great debate, the winner, Aravind Adiga for The White Tiger, was "absolutely not a compromise".

Alex Clark in a diary for the Observer Review described the final judging meeting as  "respectful, measured and thoughtful, as well as impassioned and heartfelt."

Clark echoed Portillo's sentiment that "the winner did not emerge as a compromise but as the result of a fair vote."

Read more from Alex Clark in her article for  The Observer Review.

Listen to an interview with Michael Portillo with The Economist after the winner announcement.  

The Man Booker Prize Fiction at its finest