Diverse Man Booker prize shortlist out
NoViolet Bulawayo. Net photo
On Tuesday, September 10, the shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker Prize was announced. The diversity of the shortlist was first noticed by the judges, who described the contenders as “the most diverse list ever”: Robert Macfarlane, the chair of judges, said the list is “global in its reach and demonstrates the vitality and range of the contemporary novel at its finest.”
The Man Booker is an annual contemporary fiction award given to writers from the British Commonwealth and Ireland. This year’s winner of the £50,000 (about Shs200m) prize will be announced on October 15. The authors of the six titles are drawn from five continents – England, Turkey, India, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Japan.
Africa’s contestant, Zimbabwe’s NoViolet Bulawayo, is the first black African woman to be short-listed for the prize. Bulawayo (real name Elizabeth Zandile Tshele), who will be the fourth African winner if she comes out on top, said making it to the list was an “amazing feeling.
” Her book, We Need New Names, tells the story of a young girl who leaves her slum home in Zimbabwe for a new beginning in the United States.
