The six novels shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Man Booker Prize until earlier this year) have been revealed.
These are:
- Margaret Atwood, The Testaments
- Lucy Ellmann, Ducks, Newburyport
- Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other
- Elif Shafak, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
- Salman Rushdie, Quichotte
- Chigozie Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities
The nominations have been praised for their diversity, as two are people of colour and four are women.
The Booker Prize celebrates the best original novels written in English each year. Both Atwood and Rushdie have won the award before: Atwood won with The Blind Assassin in 2000 (as well as being nominated on four other occasions for novels such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake), and Rushdie won with Midnight’s Children in 1981. His novel was subsequently voted the best of ever winner on both the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the prize, which is now in its 50th year.
The winner of the prize will be announced on 14th October.
Hear more about the nominees below:
