Lost Man Booker Prize
The Lost Man Booker Prize is a special edition of the Man Booker Prize awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970, described by The New York Times as "an act of literary reparation".[1] The 1970 Man Booker Prize was not awarded due to a rule change that year.
Literary agent and archivist Peter Straus has been credited with conceiving the idea of a Man Booker Prize for the missing year after wondering why Robertson Davies's 1971 novel Fifth Business had not been included in the Man Booker Prize shortlist.[2][3] The shortlist was selected by Rachel Cooke, Katie Derham and Tobias Hill, and revealed on 25 March 2010 when voting commenced on the Man Booker Prize website.[2][4] Voting closes on 23 April 2010.[4] The winner is then due to be announced on 19 May 2010.[2]
Four of the shortlisted authors are currently dead, with only Nina Bawden and Shirley Hazzard alive to give their reactions to being included.[5] Bawden called it “astonishing actually [...] I thought I knew all my books backwards but I couldn’t remember what this one was about”.[5] Hazzard regretted that her husband, Francis Steegmuller, was no longer alive to witness the occasion.[5] J. G. Farrell won the 1973 Man Booker Prize for The Siege of Krishnapur.[3] Bawden and Muriel Spark were previously shortlisted.[3] Tobias Hill said Patrick White, noted for requesting that his name be struck off the 1979 Man Booker prize shortlist and known for his general disapproval of receiving awards, would be "spinning in his grave" if he won the Lost Man Booker Prize for The Vivisector.[6]
Shortlist
The shortlist as announced on 25 March 2010:
- Nina Bawden — The Birds on the Trees (Virago)
- J. G. Farrell — Troubles (Phoenix)
- Shirley Hazzard — The Bay of Noon (Virago)
- Mary Renault — Fire From Heaven (Arrow)
- Muriel Spark — The Driver's Seat (Penguin)
- Patrick White — The Vivisector (Vintage)
References
- ^ Rich, Motoko (26 March 2010). "Shortlist Unveiled for 'Lost' Booker Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c Flood, Alison (25 March 2010). "Lost Booker prize shortlist overlooks Iris Murdoch but plumps for Muriel Spark". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c "Dame Muriel Spark shortlisted for 'lost' Booker Prize". BBC. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
- ^ a b c Hoyle, Ben (26 March 2010). "Author waits to hear if she has won 'lost Booker' prize 40 years on". The Times. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Akbar, Arifa (26 March 2010). "Posthumous blow to the author who hated book prizes". The Independent. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
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