Image of four of the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction Judges

Judging panel announced for Man Booker Prize 2009

‘A team of all the talents’ announced

16 December 2008

The judging panel for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction is announced today, 17 December 2008.  The line-up consists of Lucasta Miller, biographer and critic; Michael Prodger, Literary Editor of The Sunday Telegraph; John Mullan, academic, journalist and broadcaster and Sue Perkins, comedian and broadcaster.  James Naughtie, one of the country's best-known broadcasters, was announced as Chair of the Judges in November.

Ion Trewin, Literary Director of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, describes the 2009 Judging panel as: ‘A team of all the talents, wide-ranging in their specialist knowledge, but united in their passion for fiction.'

The 2008 winner, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, a first novel, ‘shocked and entertained in equal measure', said the judges.  It has since gone on to sell over 285,000 copies in the UK and has now been sold to publishers for translation in at least 26 other countries.

The longlist, ‘The Booker Dozen' - the 12 (or 13) titles under serious consideration for the prize - will be announced in early August. The shortlist of six books will be announced in early September.  The Man Booker Prize 2009 winner will be televised as live on the BBC Ten O'Clock News at Guildhall at an awards ceremony on Tuesday 6th October 2009. 

The Man Booker Prize Fiction at its finest