The new feathers shunned by a famous literary prize.
Six novelists already recognized by the Booker prize, including literary heavyweights like Kazuo Ishiguro, appear again this year in the selection of this prestigious British prize, its organizers announced on Tuesday, to the detriment of new feathers.
British author of Japanese origin Kazuo Ishiguro, 66, can thus be proud of his fifth selection for this literary prize created in 1969, to which authors of all nationalities can compete, provided they write in English.
Only two first novelists
He had already won it in 1989 for his novel
Les Vestiges du jour
, but had also been selected in 1896 (
An artist of the floating world
), in 2000 (
When we were orphans
) and in 2005 (
With me always
). The one whose career was also hailed by a Nobel for literature in 2017 is this time selected for his eighth novel,
Klara and the Sun
(
Klara and the Sun
), "a true innocent and egoless vision on strange behavior humans obsessed and hurt by power, status and fear, ”judged the members of the jury.
Five other novelists already selected by the Booker Prize included again this year on the list: Damon Galgut for
The Promise
(
The Promise
), Mary Lawson with
A Town called Expired Solace
(
A town called Consolation
), Richard Powers for
Bewilderment
(
bemused
) and Sunjeev Sahota with
China Room
(
Chinese Room
).
In total, thirteen works were selected by a jury of five judges from among 158 novels published in the United Kingdom or Ireland between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021. Six women are among the 13 names selected, and only two first novelists , far from the eight new feathers selected in the previous edition.
Douglas Stuart honored last year
Last year, the prize was awarded to the Scotsman Douglas Stuart for his first novel
Shuggie Bain
, which is set in a working-class family in Glasgow struggling with alcoholism and poverty in the 1980s. This year , "It is particularly significant, in this time of pandemic, that all of these books have important things to say about what community is, whether it is tiny and isolated or spread to the infinite in cyberspace, ”said Maya Jasanoff, president of the jury.
She praised "a strong sense of connection with the books" during this time of repeated lockdowns.
The names of the six finalists will be announced on September 14, before the winner is selected on November 3.
At the end of the day, a reward of 50,000 pounds (around 55,000 euros) and the assurance of international fame.
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