Man Booker International Prize 2009 announces list of contenders

Jane Smiley

14 authors from 12 countries make it on to Judges’ List

18 March 2009

The Man Booker International Prize announced today (18 March 2009) the Judges' List of Contenders for this year's prize.

The Man Booker International Prize differs from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlights one writer's continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage.  It is awarded every two years.

14 authors from 12 different countries are contenders for the third Man Booker International Prize. Seven of the authors are writers in translation.

They are:

Peter Carey (Australia)

Evan S. Connell (USA)

Mahasweta Devi (India)

E.L. Doctorow (USA)

James Kelman (UK)

Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)

Arnošt Lustig (Czech Republic)

Alice Munro (Canada)

V.S. Naipaul (Trinidad/India)

Joyce Carol Oates (USA)

Antonio Tabucchi (Italy)

Ngugi Wa Thiong'O (Kenya)

Dubravka Ugresic (Croatia)

Ludmila Ulitskaya (Russia)

The contenders were selected by a judging panel chaired by Jane Smiley, writer. She was joined by Amit Chaudhuri, writer, academic and musician; and writer, film script writer and essayist, Andrey Kurkov.

Speaking at a press conference held at The New York Public Library, today (Wednesday 18 March 2009), Jane Smiley said:

"Judging the Man Booker International Prize has made us all aware of how unusual and astonishing the literary world really is.  We've all read books by authors we had never heard of before and they have turned out to be some of the best books we've ever read.  I am thrilled with the list we have come up with.  It makes me wonder who else is out there untranslated into English.

"Some of the best writers in the world have come together on this judges' list regardless of celebrity or commercial success.  For us it's been a rare combination of education and delight."

Three of the contenders have previously won the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Peter Carey won the Booker Prize twice - in 1988 (Oscar and Lucinda) and in 2001 (True History of the Kelly Gang). James Kelman won the Booker Prize in 1994 with How Late It Was, How Late. V.S Naipaul won the Booker Prize in 1971 with In A Free State. 

The winner of this year's Man Booker International Prize will be announced in May 2009, and the winner will be presented with their award at a ceremony in Dublin on 25 June 2009.  

The prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, which also sponsors The Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

To read the full press release please visit our media centre.

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