Let's demystify The Booker Prize

The season of the literature awards is here. This is a piece of promising news for every book lover, novelist, and publisher worldwide, who have been severely hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. On 26th August 2020, the International Booker Prize will be awarded to one of the six shortlisted novelists, who in turn got selected out of the thirteen originally 'longlisted' ones by The Booker Prize Foundation. On the other hand, the Foundation unveiled the Booker Prize longlist, or what they call 'the Booker Dozen' on 28th July 2020. Of the thirteen longlisted novelists, six will be shortlisted after a screening, which will be disclosed on 15th September 2020. The grand prize will be awarded in October 2020. Acclaimed British author, Hilary Mantel is running for her record third after swiping the coveted Booker Prize in 2009 (Wolf Hall) and in 2012 (Bring Up the Bodies). On 8th October 2020, The Swedish Academy (Svenska Akademien) will announce the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature.

For most newbies, the difference between the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize is a bit confusing. Although they are under the same hood (The Booker Prize Foundation), both prizes have some considerable differences. To a bibliophile, a study of these grand prizes of the literary world will not only help them in their reading but also in their outlook towards the world.

Is it Man Booker or Booker?

Most readers aren't aware of this particular prefix: Man. The 'Man' in the Booker came from Man Group Ltd., a fund management company based in London, United Kingdom. From the year 2002 to 2019, Man Group Ltd. was the principal sponsor for both the prizes: The Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize. According to the nature of the deal, 'Man' was selected as the name that would prefix the prizes. Last year i.e., 2019, the trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation signed a new deal with the 'Crankstart Foundation', a charitable foundation of Sir Michael Moritz KBE and his wife, Harriet Heyman. With this pact, the names of the prizes have now returned to their original nomenclature: The Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize.

What is the Booker Prize?

Considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the field of English literature, probably second only to The Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize started its journey in the year 1969. The original idea, which changed a year later, was to award an astounding work of fiction in the English language, published in the preceding year in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

P.H Newby was chosen as the first winner of the 1969 Booker Prize for his novel, 'Something to Answer For', and he took home a cheque of £5,000. It wasn't the sum that made an impact, but the award, that catapulted Newby's 17th novel to an elite list of best-sellers of the year. As someone from the Foundation said:  The idea of the award is to increase the quality of reading and attract an intelligent audience, as well as to boost significant sales of the books.

In 2019, the winners of The Booker Prize: Margaret Atwood (The Testament) and Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Women and Other), took home a princely sum of £50,000 each for their incredible work. Along with this, each of the shortlisted ones received £2,500 plus a designer bound copy of their novel.

In the 2020 edition of the Booker Prize, nine of the thirteen longlisted authors are women—an astounding feat in its own right. Eight out of thirteen are debut novels that showcase the growing quality of writing as Jury panels are forced to brainstorm harder every passing year to pick the best of the best.

What is the International Booker Prize?

Established in the year 2005 by the Foundation and Man Group Ltd., The International Booker Prize has evolved in two stages. In the first stage, from 2005-2015, the decision was to award an author whose work (a body of work) was in either English or available in English translation, every two years (published in the United Kingdom and Ireland). In the second stage, which started from the year 2016, Man Group Ltd decided to join hands with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize to award an outstanding work of literature translated from any language to English. This award is now given annually to authors (as well as their translators) who publish their work in their domain language as well as in English. The earlier idea of awarding 'a body of work' was dropped and now the award is given to novels as well as short stories. The winners—author and translator—carry home a cheque of £60,000 which is equally divided between them. Also, each shortlisted author and translator receives £1,000. One of the finest things about the International Booker Prize is that it opens up a plethora of quality reading for the world, breaking the boundaries of languages and cultures.

Omani writer Jokha Alharthi became the first Arabic author to win the 2019 International Man Booker Prize for her novel, 'The Celestial Bodies'. The book was translated into English by the British author, translator, and an expert in Arabian literature, Marilyn Booth. According to the Foundation, the demand for translated novels in Europe, especially in Britain, has grown substantially by 5%, which is a magical number given the dwindling numbers of book-shops and publishing houses.

Earlier, the date for awarding the 2020 International Booker Prize was scheduled for 19th May 2020. However, due to the pandemic, it was postponed to 26th August 2020.

The following are vying for the grand prize :

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Farsi-Iran)

The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Spanish-Argentina)

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (German-Germany)

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Spanish-Mexico)

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (Japanese-Japan)

The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Dutch-Netherlands)