London (AFP)

Eight first novels have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, whose authors will compete with renowned feathers like Hilary Mantel and Tsitsi Dangarembga, the organizers of the prestigious British literary prize announced on Tuesday.

British novelist Hilary Mantel has twice won this prestigious literary prize created in 1969, the British equivalent of Goncourt, to which authors of all nationalities can compete as long as they write in English.

It is the third book by Hilary Mantel on Thomas Cromwell, minister of the king of England Henry VIII which caught the attention of the five jurors.

His bestsellers were adapted for television in the award-winning series "Wolf Hall".

The famous Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga is one of her competitors with the third volume of a trilogy, sequel to Nervous conditions ("A fleur de peau" in the French version), on the journey of a young girl from Zimbabwe.

In total, thirteen works were selected by a jury of five judges from among 162 novels published in the United Kingdom or Ireland between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020.

Nine women are among the 13 names selected.

More than half of the selected works are first novels, an "unusually high proportion," noted Gaby Wood, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, quoted in a statement.

“In this year of seismic changes, the visibility of new books published in the UK has been extremely low. So unintentional as this ratio is, it is especially heartwarming to know that some authors who started their careers in the middle ( pandemic) of Covid-19 now have a chance to reach the readers they deserve, "she added.

The names of the six finalists will be announced on September 15, before the winner is chosen in November. As a result, a reward of 50,000 pounds (around 55,000 euros) and the assurance of international fame.

Besides Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood, among the already distinguished novelists are also Yann Martel, Kazuo Ishiguro and Julian Barnes.

Last year, the prize was awarded jointly to Canadian writers Margaret Atwood and Anglo-Nigerian Bernardine Evaristo, for "Les Testaments" and "Girl, Woman, Other" respectively.

© 2020 AFP