Man Booker Prize judges announce shortlist of 6 novels

The Man Booker Prize judges announced on Tuesday their shortlist for the best original novel, written in the English language and published in Britain.

The prize, one of the literary world's richest, is to be given on October 25 in London, and will recognise work published between September 2015 and October 2016, Efe news reported.

Of the 155 works that met the criteria, the judges have selected a shortlist of six -- itself considered a great honour.

"The final six reflect the centrality of the novel in modern culture, in its ability to champion the unconventional, to explore the unfamiliar, and to tackle difficult subjects," said president of the jury Amanda Foreman in a statement.

Nominated were Graeme Macrae Burnet's highlands-set historical thriller "His Bloody Project", Deborah Levy for literary fiction "Hot Milk", Paul Beatty for his satirical "The Sellout", debut novelist Ottessa Moshfegh's "Eileen", David Szalay for "All That Man Is", and Madeleine Thien's exploration of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, "Do Not Say We Have Nothing".

Since its inception in 1969, the Booker Prize could only be given to British, Irish, Zimbabwean and Commonwealth writers, but in 2013 it was broadened to accept all novels published in Britain and originally written in English.

Favourite to win for fans is Levy, for her novel that Foreman said "dissects motherhood and mystery with an unsettling psychological intensity".

In 2015, Jamaican novelist Marlon James won the Man Booker Prize for "A Brief History of Seven Killings", a fictional story about the attempt on Bob Marley's life in 1976.

Previous winners include Anthony Burgess, for "Earthly Powers" in 1980 and Arundhati Roy for "The God of Small Things" in 1997.

The winner is usually guaranteed international renown and sales.

--IANS

lok/bg