Source : Times of India
Man Booker Prize changed its rules three years ago for accepting any writer writing in English. There has been a recent change in the rules on Monday considering the Irish publisher‘s novels as well.
This new addition in the prize took place because of the controversy of Mike McCormack‘s Solar Bones, when he was considered ineligible to compete. “Solar Bones is not just one of the most interesting works of literary fiction of 2016, it’s one of the most impressive novels of the decade,” wrote Tramp’s co-founder Sarah Davis-Goff .”Doing the heavy lifting when it comes to finding exceptional literary talent”, but that “ambitious Irish authors have to give serious consideration to an offer from a UK publisher over an Irish one if they have the Man Booker in their sights”.
Gaby Wood, the literary director of Booker Foundation, said, “We’re delighted to support Irish publishers and the writers whose work they bring into the world. So much exciting new fiction is being written and published concurrently in Ireland and the UK that we felt it was only right to acknowledge and honour that.”
On Monday, Davis-Goff said that Tramp was “over the moon that we’ll be able to submit the incredible writers we publish to this prestigious prize for the first time … this new eligibility really affords us an opportunity to grow, and more importantly ensures the Irish literary community as a whole really benefits from the quality of Irish fiction. We’re so grateful to Gaby Wood and everyone at the Man Booker for including us and can’t wait to see what happens next.”
The Booker Prize list will be announced in July this year. It will be judged by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, writer Val McDermid, critic Leo Robson, the feminist writer Jacqueline Rose and the artist Leanne Shapton, who is also a graphic novelist.
