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56-510: Edward St Aubyn (born 1960) is an English author and journalist. He is the author of ten novels, including notably the semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels. In 2006, Mother's Milk was shortlisted for the Booker Prize . St Aubyn was born in 1960 in London , the son of Roger Geoffrey St Aubyn (1906–1985), a surgeon, and his second wife, Lorna Mackintosh (1929–2005). On his father's side, he

112-443: A charitable foundation run by Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman – then announced it would sponsor the award for five years, with the option to renew for another five years. The award title was changed to simply "The Booker Prize". In 2019, despite having been unequivocally warned against doing so, the foundation's jury – under the chair Peter Florence – split the prize, awarding it to two authors, in breach of

168-544: A "lively, elegant and surprising book, packed with curious details and enticing anecdotes", it was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2003. Wood was awarded a 2007–2008 Cullman fellowship at the New York Public Library . Wood was The Daily Telegraph ' s head of books, overseeing literature coverage, from January 2010 until 2015, and continues to write for

224-462: A five-part television series, Patrick Melrose was broadcast, a joint production of Showtime and Sky Atlantic . Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Patrick Melrose (with the young Patrick played by Sebastian Maltz), with each episode based on a different novel in the series. The series premiered on Showtime on 12 May 2018 to favourable reviews. From 1987 to 1990, St Aubyn was married to the author Nicola Shulman , now Marchioness of Normanby . He has

280-563: A highly dysfunctional upper-class English family, and deals with his father's sexual abuse, the deaths of both parents, alcoholism , heroin addiction and recovery, and marriage and parenthood. The books have been hailed as a powerful exploration of how emotional health can be carved out of childhood trauma. Mother's Milk was made into a feature film released in 2011. The screenplay was written by St Aubyn and director Gerald Fox. It starred Jack Davenport , Adrian Dunbar , Diana Quick , and Margaret Tyzack in her last performance. In 2018

336-465: A judge; in 2001, she called the prize "a pile of crooked nonsense" with the winner determined by "who knows who, who's sleeping with who, who's selling drugs to who, who's married to who, whose turn it is". In 1997, the decision to award Arundhati Roy 's The God of Small Things proved controversial. Carmen Callil , chair of the previous year's Booker judges, called it an "execrable" book and said on television that it should not even have been on

392-620: A jury badly split over Ian McEwan 's novel On Chesil Beach . The following year it was India's turn again, with Aravind Adiga narrowly defeating Enright's fellow Irishman Sebastian Barry . Historically, the winner of the Booker Prize had been required to be a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations , the Republic of Ireland, or Zimbabwe. It was announced on 18 September 2013 that future Booker Prize awards would consider authors from anywhere in

448-530: A letter to The Guardian requesting that the prize be given to him so that he could use the money to buy every copy of the longlisted books in Ireland and donate them to libraries, "thus ensuring that the books not only are bought but also read – surely a unique occurrence". Judging for the 1983 award produced a draw between J. M. Coetzee 's Life & Times of Michael K and Salman Rushdie 's Shame , leaving chair of judges Fay Weldon to choose between

504-414: A number of titles based on their longlisting history (previously they could submit two). Non-longlisted publishers can submit one title, publishers with one or two longlisted books in the previous five years can submit two, publishers with three or four longlisted books are allowed three submissions, and publishers with five or more longlisted books can have four submissions. In addition, previous winners of

560-724: A permanent home for the archives from 1968 to present at Oxford Brookes University Library. The Archive, which encompasses the administrative history of the Prize from 1968 to date, collects together a diverse range of material, including correspondence, publicity material, copies of both the Longlists and the Shortlists, minutes of meetings, photographs and material relating to the awards dinner (letters of invitation, guest lists, seating plans). Embargoes of ten or twenty years apply to certain categories of material; examples include all material relating to

616-620: A rule established in 1993. Florence justified the decision, saying: "We came down to a discussion with the director of the Booker Prize about the rules. And we were told quite firmly that the rules state that you can only have one winner ... and as we have managed the jury all the way through on the principle of consensus, our consensus was that it was our decision to flout the rules and divide this year's prize to celebrate two winners." The two were British writer Bernardine Evaristo for her novel Girl, Woman, Other and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood for The Testaments . Evaristo's win marked

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672-446: A small number of literary insiders is controversial for many. The Guardian introduced the "Not the Booker Prize" voted for by readers partly as a reaction to this. Author Amit Chaudhuri wrote: "The idea that a 'book of the year' can be assessed annually by a bunch of people – judges who have to read almost a book a day – is absurd, as is the idea that this is any way of honouring a writer." The author Julian Barnes once dismissed

728-462: A son by Jane Longman, daughter of publisher (head of Longman ) Mark Frederick Kerr Longman (1916-1972) and Lady Elizabeth Mary (1924-2016). Her mother, the elder daughter of Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan , was a bridesmaid and friend of Queen Elizabeth II . Booker Prize The Booker Prize , formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019),

784-627: Is a great-great-grandson of Sir Edward St Aubyn, 1st Baronet , and a great-nephew of John St Aubyn, 1st Baron St Levan . St Aubyn's father was first married to Sophie Helene Freiin von Puthon, daughter of Baron Heinrich Puthon, long-time president of the Salzburg Festival , whom he divorced in 1957. St Aubyn has two half-sisters from his father's first marriage, and an elder sister, Alexandra. He grew up in London and France, where his family had houses. He has described an unhappy childhood in which he

840-578: Is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, which was published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize receives £ 50,000, as well as international publicity that usually leads to a significant sales boost. When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth , Irish, and South African (and later Zimbabwean) citizens were eligible to receive

896-751: The Commonwealth were also considered. In 2008, the winner for 1948 was Alan Paton 's Cry, the Beloved Country , beating Norman Mailer 's The Naked and the Dead , Graham Greene 's The Heart of the Matter and Evelyn Waugh 's The Loved One . In 2015, the winner for 1915 was Ford Madox Ford 's The Good Soldier , beating The Thirty-Nine Steps ( John Buchan ), Of Human Bondage ( W. Somerset Maugham ), Psmith, Journalist ( P. G. Wodehouse ) and The Voyage Out ( Virginia Woolf ). Gaby Wood Wood read French literature at Cambridge University , and

952-533: The 50th anniversary, the Golden Man Booker was awarded. One book from each decade was selected by a panel of judges: Naipaul's In a Free State (the 1971 winner), Lively's Moon Tiger (1987), Ondaatje's The English Patient (1992), Mantel's Wolf Hall (2009) and Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo (2017). The winner, by popular vote, was The English Patient . Since 2014, each publisher's imprint may submit

1008-525: The Booker was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the prize's 40th anniversary. A shortlist of six winners was chosen — Rushdie's Midnight's Children , Coetzee' Disgrace , Carey's Oscar and Lucinda , Gordimer's The Conservationist , Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur , and Barker's The Ghost Road — and the decision was left to a public vote; the winner was again Midnight's Children . In 2018, to celebrate

1064-469: The Booker Prize is greeted with anticipation and fanfare around the world. Literary critics have noted that it is a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist or to be nominated for the "longlist". A sister prize, the International Booker Prize , is awarded for a work of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Unlike

1120-454: The Booker Prize was originally £5,000. It doubled in 1978 to £10,000 and was subsequently raised to £50,000 in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Man Group, making it one of the world's richest literary prizes . Each of the shortlisted authors receives £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book. The original Booker Prize trophy was designed by the artist Jan Pieńkowski and the design

1176-452: The Booker Prize, for The Elected Member . The rules of the Booker changed in 1971; previously, it had been given retrospectively, to books published in the year prior to each award. In 1971, eligibility was changed to make the year of a novel's publication the same as the year of the award, which was made in November; in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for

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1232-549: The Booker Prize, short story collections are eligible for the International Booker Prize. The £50,000 prize money is split evenly between the author and translator of the winning novel. The prize was established as the "Booker Prize for Fiction" after the company Booker, McConnell Ltd began sponsoring the event in 1969; it became commonly known as the "Booker Prize" or the "Booker". Jock Campbell , Charles Tyrrell and Tom Maschler were instrumental in establishing

1288-416: The Booker Prize. This was rectified in 2010 by the awarding of the " Lost Man Booker Prize " to J. G. Farrell 's Troubles . In 1993, a special Booker of Bookers prize was awarded to mark the prize's 25th anniversary. Three previous judges of the award, Malcolm Bradbury , David Holloway and W. L. Webb, met and chose Salman Rushdie 's Midnight's Children , the 1981 winner, as "the best novel out of all

1344-642: The Booker in either year. Forty years later, the Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of a special award called the " Lost Man Booker Prize ", with the winner chosen from a longlist of 22 novels published in 1970. The prize was won by J. G. Farrell for Troubles , though the author had died in 1979. In 1972, winning writer John Berger , known for his Marxist worldview, protested during his acceptance speech against Booker McConnell. He blamed Booker's 130 years of sugar production in

1400-537: The Caribbean for the region's modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement , because it had a socialist and revolutionary perspective in agreement with his own. In 1980, Anthony Burgess , writer of Earthly Powers , refused to attend the ceremony unless it was confirmed to him in advance whether he had won. His was one of two books considered likely to win,

1456-656: The International Booker Prize since the Man Group ended its association with the prizes in 2019. A Russian version of the Booker Prize was created in 1992 called the Booker-Open Russia Literary Prize , also known as the Russian Booker Prize. In 2007, Man Group plc established the Man Asian Literary Prize , an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in

1512-429: The appointed jury to make the award to just a single author/book. The choice of James Kelman 's book How Late It Was, How Late as 1994 Booker Prize winner proved to be one of the most controversial in the award's history. Rabbi Julia Neuberger , one of the judges, declared it "a disgrace" and left the event, later deeming the book to be "crap"; WHSmith 's marketing manager called the award "an embarrassment to

1568-413: The books that have been submitted. (In 2023, the judges read 163 books over seven months. ) After doing so, they select a longlist of 12 or 13 titles (the "Booker Dozen"), before each reading those books for a second time. They then select a shortlist of six titles, and read the six books a third time before selecting a winner. The Booker judging process and the very concept of a "best book" being chosen by

1624-455: The chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, chooses the judges in consultation with an advisory committee made up of senior figures from the UK publishing industry. On rare occasions a judge may be selected a second time. Judges are selected from amongst leading literary critics, writers, academics and leading public figures. Unlike some other literary prizes, each judge is expected to read all of

1680-724: The first time the Booker had been awarded to a black woman, while Atwood's win, at 79, made her the oldest winner. Atwood had also previously won the prize in 2000. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual award ceremony was replaced with a livestream from the Roundhouse in London, without the shortlisted authors in attendance. The winner was Douglas Stuart for his debut novel Shuggie Bain , which had been rejected by more than 30 publishers. 2021's small-scale ceremony, once again impacted by COVID-19, saw South African writer Damon Galgut , who had been shortlisted in 2003 and 2010, win

1736-492: The following year. In 2018, publishers sought to reverse the change, arguing that the inclusion of American writers would lead to homogenisation, reducing diversity and opportunities everywhere, including in America, to learn about "great books that haven't already been widely heralded". Man Group announced in early 2019 that the year's prize would be the last of eighteen under their sponsorship. A new sponsor, Crankstart  –

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1792-399: The goose that lays your golden eggs." In 1988, Peter Carey won the first of his two Booker Prizes for Oscar and Lucinda (which would later be shortlisted for The Best of the Booker ). In 1992, the jury split the prize between Michael Ondaatje 's The English Patient and Barry Unsworth 's Sacred Hunger . This prompted the foundation to draw up a rule that made it mandatory for

1848-613: The judging process and the Longlist prior to 2002. Between 2005 and 2008, the Booker Prize alternated between writers from Ireland and India. "Outsider" John Banville began this trend in 2005 when his novel The Sea was selected as a surprise winner: Boyd Tonkin , literary editor of The Independent , famously condemned it as "possibly the most perverse decision in the history of the award" and rival novelist Tibor Fischer poured scorn on Banville's victory. Kiran Desai of India won in 2006. Anne Enright 's 2007 victory came about due to

1904-464: The number of nominees was capped at 12 or 13 each year. In 2001, Peter Carey won his second Booker Prize for True History of the Kelly Gang , a work now ranked by The Guardian as one of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Carey is one of only four writers to have won the Booker Prize twice, the others being J.M. Coetzee , Hilary Mantel , and Margaret Atwood . The Booker Prize created

1960-469: The other being Rites of Passage by William Golding . The judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favourites to win leading up to the prize, and the dramatic "literary battle" between two senior writers made front-page news. Alice Munro 's The Beggar Maid was shortlisted in 1980, and remains the only short-story collection to be shortlisted. In 1981, nominee John Banville wrote

2016-652: The paper. She has also written for the London Review of Books , The Guardian , Granta , and US Vogue , among other publications, and has served as a judge for literary awards including the Man Booker Prize in 2011, Granta magazine's Best of Young British Novelists , the Jerwood Award , the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (2013), and the Bookseller Industry Awards . Wood

2072-456: The previous calendar year. For many years, as part of The Times 's Literature Festival in Cheltenham , a Booker event was held on the last Saturday of the festival. Four guest speakers/judges debated a shortlist of four books from a given year from before the introduction of the Booker Prize, and a winner was chosen. Unlike the real Booker Prize (1969 through 2014), writers from outside

2128-494: The prize are automatically considered if they enter new titles. Books may also be called in: publishers can make written representations to the judges to consider titles in addition to those already entered. In the 21st century the average number of books considered by the judges has been approximately 130. A separate prize for which any living writer in the world may qualify, the Man Booker International Prize ,

2184-431: The prize as "posh bingo" for the apparently arbitrary way winners are selected. On winning the prize in 2011 he joked that he had revised his opinion, telling reporters that he had realised "the judges are the wisest heads in literary Christendom". For many years, the winner was announced at a formal, black-tie dinner in London's Guildhall in early October. However, in 2020, with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in place,

2240-491: The prize for The Promise . 2022 saw a reimagined winner ceremony at the Roundhouse, hosted by comedian Sophie Duker and featuring a keynote speech by singer Dua Lipa . The prize was won by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka for his second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida . In 2023, for the first time, the shortlist featured three writers named Paul ( Paul Lynch , Paul Murray and Paul Harding ). The prize

2296-415: The prize. When administration of the prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation in 2002, the title sponsor became the investment company Man Group , which opted to retain "Booker" as part of the official title of the prize. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the entire profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd, of which it is the sole shareholder. The prize money awarded with

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2352-451: The prize. In fact, he has only been shortlisted once and that was for Time's Arrow , which was not one of his strongest books. That really is suspicious. He pissed people off with Dead Babies and that gets lodged in the culture. There is also the feeling that he has always looked towards America. The selection process for the winner of the prize commences with the appointment of a panel of five judges, which changes each year. Gaby Wood,

2408-509: The prize; in 2014, eligibility was widened to any English-language novel—a change that proved controversial. A five-person panel consisting of authors, publishers and journalists, as well as politicians, actors, artists and musicians, is appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation each year to choose the winning book. As of 2024, the chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation is Gaby Wood . A high-profile literary award in British culture ,

2464-463: The shortlist. Booker Prize chairman Martyn Goff said Roy won because nobody objected, following the rejection by the judges of Bernard MacLaverty 's shortlisted book due to their dismissal of him as "a wonderful short-story writer and that Grace Notes was three short stories strung together". Before 2001, each year's longlist of nominees was not publicly revealed. From 2001, the longlisted novels started to be published each year, and in 2007

2520-403: The time a heroin addict , he graduated with a pass, the lowest possible class of degree. Five of St Aubyn's novels, Never Mind , Bad News , Some Hope , Mother's Milk , and At Last , form The Patrick Melrose Novels, the first four of which were republished in a single volume in 2012, in anticipation of the fifth. They are based on the author's own life; the titular protagonist grows up in

2576-537: The two. According to Stephen Moss in The Guardian , "Her arm was bent and she chose Rushdie", only to change her mind as the result was being phoned through. At the award ceremony, Fay Weldon used her speech to attack the assembled publishers, accusing them of exploiting and undervaluing authors. "I will ask you if in your dealings with authors you are really being fair, and honourable, and right? Or merely getting away with what you can? If you are not careful, you will kill

2632-482: The whole book trade"; Waterstones in Glasgow sold a mere 13 copies of Kelman's book the following week. In 1994, The Guardian ' s literary editor Richard Gott , citing the lack of objective criteria and the exclusion of American authors, described the prize as "a significant and dangerous iceberg in the sea of British culture that serves as a symbol of its current malaise". In 1996, A. L. Kennedy served as

2688-470: The winner ceremony was broadcast in November from the Roundhouse , in partnership with the BBC . The ceremony returned to the Roundhouse for a more casual in-person ceremony in 2022, before moving to Old Billingsgate in London in 2023. In 1971, the nature of the prize was changed so that it was awarded to novels published in that year instead of in the previous year; therefore, no novel published in 1970 could win

2744-466: The winners". In 2006, the Man Booker Prize set up a "Best of Beryl" prize, for the author Beryl Bainbridge , who had been nominated five times and yet failed to win once. The prize is said to count as a Booker Prize. The nominees were An Awfully Big Adventure , Every Man for Himself , The Bottle Factory Outing , The Dressmaker and Master Georgie , which won. Similarly, The Best of

2800-564: The world, so long as their work was in English and published in the UK. This change proved controversial in literary circles. Former winner A. S. Byatt and former judge John Mullan said the prize risked diluting its identity, whereas former judge A. L. Kennedy welcomed the change. Following this expansion, the first winner not from the Commonwealth, Ireland, or Zimbabwe was American Paul Beatty in 2016. Another American, George Saunders , won

2856-465: Was a judge for the 1999 prize, was reported as saying in 2001: There is a well-established London literary community. Rushdie doesn't get shortlisted now because he has attacked that community. That is not a good game plan if you want to win the Booker. Norman Mailer has found the same thing in the US – you have to "be a citizen" if you want to win prizes. The real scandal is that [Martin] Amis has never won

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2912-652: Was a recipient of the Harper-Wood Studentship from St John's College in 1999. She was a journalist at The Observer from 2002, and during her time at the paper was deputy literary editor, arts editor, editor of the review section and New York correspondent for seven years. Wood's book Living Dolls: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life (US edition: Edison's Eve ) was published in 2002. Described by Miranda Seymour in The New York Times as

2968-428: Was inaugurated in 2005. Until 2015, it was given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation. In 2016, the award was significantly reconfigured, and is now given annually to a single book in English translation , with a £50,000 prize for the winning title, shared equally between author and translator. The award has been known as

3024-431: Was repeatedly raped by his sexually abusive father from the ages of 5 to 8, with the complicity of his mother. St. Aubyn later said of his father, "He had a small canvas, but he was as destructive as he could be. If he’d been given Cambodia, or China, I’m sure he would have done sterling work". St Aubyn attended Sussex House and then Westminster School . In 1979 he went on to read English at Keble College, Oxford . At

3080-404: Was revived for the 2023 prize. The first winner of the Booker Prize was P. H. Newby in 1969 for his novel Something to Answer For . W. L. Webb, The Guardian ' s Literary Editor, was chair of the inaugural set of judges, which included Rebecca West , Stephen Spender , Frank Kermode and David Farrer. In 1970, the prize's second year, Bernice Rubens became the first woman to win

3136-472: Was won by Irish writer Paul Lynch for his novel Prophet Song . In the media, reaction was mixed. In The Guardian , Justine Jordan wrote that "This is a novel written to jolt the reader awake to truths we mostly cannot bear to admit", while in The Telegraph , Cal Revely-Calder wrote that Prophet Song is "political fiction at its laziest" and "the weak link in a strong shortlist". John Sutherland , who

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