×


 x 

Shopping cart

bookerHere you'll find every winning and shortlisted book in the Booker Prize, since the inception of the prize in 1969! 

(Occasionally books go out of stock or out of print, but these will reappear as we replenish. Cover images are for illustration purposes.)

The Booker Prize for literary fiction was first awarded in 1969 for the best original novel written in the English language and the prize was £21,000. Only Commonwealth, Irish and Zimbabwean citizens were eligible. The idea was to promote fiction at its finest and from the beginning, the organisers did exactly that. The prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize but it is more commonly referred to simply as ‘The Booker’. 

Selection for the shortlist was a major honour and that the eventual winner was guaranteed international renown and success. From the beginning, the Booker was hugely significant to the book trade and of major importance to publishers. In 2013, the rules of eligibility were widened to include any English novel that was published in the UK.

Read Tom Kenny's take on The Booker Prize below >>>

 

 

2019

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World 9780241364901 9781787331921 An Orchestra of Minorities 9781910296967 9780385543781

2018

booker 1 rs booker 6 everything under rs booker 5 the long take rs booker 4 washington black rs booker 2 rs booker 3 the overstory rs

2017

2017 Winner - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Bloomsbury); Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury)2017 - 4321 by Paul Auster (Faber & Faber)2017 - History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Books)2017 - Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House)2017- Elmet by Fiona Mozley (JM Originals, John Murray)2017 - Autumn by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House)

 2016

2016 Winner - The Sellout by Paul Beatty (Published by Oneworld Publications)2016 - Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (Published by Hamish Hamilton)2016 - His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Published by Contraband)2016 - Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (Published by Jonathan Cape)2016 - All That Man Is by David Szalay (Published by Jonathan Cape)2016 - Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (Published by Granta Books)

  2015

2015 Winner - A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (Published by Oneworld Publications)2015 - Satin Island by Tom McCarthy (Published by Jonathan Cape)2015 - The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (Published by One)2015 - The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota (Published by Picador)2015 - A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (Published by Chatto & Windus)2015 - A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Published by Picador)

 2014

2014 Winner - The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Published by Chatto & Windus)2014 - To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (Published by Viking)2014 - We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (Published by Serpent's Tail)2014 - J by Howard Jacobson (Published by Jonathan Cape)2014 - The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (Published by Jonathan Cape)2014 - How to Be Both by Ali Smith (Published by Hamish Hamilton)

 2013

2013 Winner - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Published by Granta)2013 - We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (Published by Chatto & Windus)2013 - Harvest by Jim Crace (Published by Picador)2013 - The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Published by Bloomsbury)2013 - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Published by Canongate)2013 - The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín (Published by Viking)

 2012

2012 Winner - Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Published by Fourth Estate)2012 - Swimming Home by Deborah Levy (Published by Faber & Faber)2012 - The Lighthouse by Alison Moore (Published by Salt Publishing)2012 - Umbrella by Will Self (Published by Bloomsbury)2012 - The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Published by Myrmidon Books)2012 - Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (Published by Faber & Faber)

 2011

2011 Winner - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Published by Jonathan Cape)2011 - Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Published by Canongate)2011 - The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (Published by Granta Books)2011 - Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (Published by Serpent’s Tail)2011 - Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (Published by Bloomsbury)2011 - Snowdrops by A. D. Miller (Published by Atlantic Books)

 2010

2010 Winner - The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Published by Bloomsbury)2010 - Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey (Published by Faber & Faber)2010 - Room by Emma Donoghue (Published by Picador)2010 - In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut (Published by Atlantic Books)2010 - The Long Song by Andrea Levy (Published by Hachette)2010 - C by Tom McCarthy (Published by Jonathan Cape)

 2009

2009 Winner - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Published by Fourth Estate)2009 - The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt (Published by Chatto and Windus)2009 - Summertime by J. M. Coetzee (Published by Harvill Secker)2009 - The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds (Published by Jonathan Cape)2009 - The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Published by Little, Brown)2009 - The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Published by Virago)

 2008

2008-12008 - The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Published by Faber & Faber)2008 - Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (Published by John Murray)2008 - The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant (Published by Virago)2008 - The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher (Published by Fourth Estate)2008 - A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Published by Hamish Hamilton)

 2007

2007 Winner - The Gathering by Anne Enright (Published by Jonathan Cape)2007 - Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Published by Fourth Estate)2007 - The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Published by Hamish Hamilton)2007 - Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Published by John Murray)2007 - On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Published by Jonathan Cape)2007 - Animal's People by Indra Sinha (Published by Simon & Schuster)

 2006

2006 Winner - The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Published by Hamish Hamilton)2006 - The Secret River by Kate Grenville (Published by Canongate)2006 - Carry Me Down by M. J. Hyland (Published by Canongate)2006 - In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (Published by Viking)2006 - Mother's Milk by Edward St Aubyn (Published by Picador)2006 - The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (Published by Virago)

 2005

2005 Winner - The Sea by John Banville (Published by Picador)2005 - Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (Published by Jonathan Cape)2005 - A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry (Published by Faber & Faber)2005 - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Published by Faber & Faber)2005 - The Accidental by Ali Smith (Published by Hamish Hamilton)2005 - On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Published by Hamish Hamilton)

 2004

2004 Winner - The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Published by Picador)2004 - Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor (Published by Atlantic)2004 - The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall (Published by Faber & Faber)2004 - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Published by Sceptre)2004 - The Master by Colm Tóibín (Published by Picador)2004 - I'll Go to Bed at Noon by Gerard Woodward (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 2003

2003 Winner - Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (Published by Faber & Faber)2003 - Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Published by Doubleday)2003 - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Published by Bloomsbury)2003 - The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut (Published by Atlantic)2003 - Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller (Published by Viking)2003 - Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall (Published by Tindal Street)

 2002

2002 Winner - Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Published by Canongate)2002 - Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (Published by Faber & Faber)2002 - Unless by Carol Shields (Published by Fourth Estate)2002 - The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor (Published by Viking)2002 - Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (Published by Virago)2002 - Dirt Music by Tim Winton (Published by Picador)

 2001

2001 Winner - True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (Published by Faber & Faber)2001 - Atonement by Ian McEwan (Published by Jonathan Cape)2001 - Oxygen by Andrew Miller (Published by Sceptre)2001 - number9dream by David Mitchell (Published by Sceptre)2001 - The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert (Published by William Heinemann)2001 - Hotel World by Ali Smith (Published by Hamish Hamilton)

 2000

2000 Winner - The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Published by Bloomsbury)2000 - The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi (Published by Picador)2000 - The Keepers of Truth by Michael Collins (Published by Phoenix House)2000 - When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro (Published by Faber & Faber)2000 - English Passengers by Matthew Kneale (Published by Hamish Hamilton)2000 - The Deposition of Father McGreevy by Brian O'Doherty (Published by Arcadia)

 1999

1999 Winner - Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Published by Secker & Warburg)1999 - Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai (Published by Chatto & Windus)1999 - Headlong by Michael Frayn (Published by Faber & Faber)1999 - Our Fathers by Andrew O'Hagan (Published by Faber & Faber)1999 - The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif (Published by Bloomsbury)1999 - The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín (Published by Picador)

 1998

1998 Winner - Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Published by Jonathan Cape)1998 - Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (Published by Duckworth)1998 - England, England by Julian Barnes (Published by Jonathan Cape)1998 - The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth (Published by Dewi Lewis)1998 - Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe (Published by Picador)1998 - The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills (Published by Flamingo)

 1997

1997 Winner - The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Published by Flamingo)1997 - Quarantine by Jim Crace (Published by Viking)1997 - The Underground Man by Mick Jackson (Published by Picador)1997 - Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty (Published by Jonathan Cape)1997 - Europa by Tim Parks (Published by Secker & Warburg)1997 - The Essence of the Thing by Madeleine St John (Published by Fourth Estate)

 1996

1996 Winner - Last Orders by Graham Swift (Published by Picador)1996 - Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (Published by Bloomsbury)1996 - Every Man for Himself by Beryl Bainbridge (Published by Duckworth)1996 - Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (Published by Jonathan Cape)1996 - The Orchard on Fire by Shena Mackay (Published by Heinemann)1996 - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Published by Faber & Faber)

 1995

1995 Winner - The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (Published by Viking)1995 - In Every Face I Meet by Justin Cartwright (Published by Sceptre)1995 - The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie (Published by Jonathan Cape)1995 - Morality Play by Barry Unsworth (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1995 - The Riders by Tim Winton (Published by Picador)

 1994

1994 Winner - How late it was, how late by James Kelman (Published by Secker & Warburg)1994 - Reef by Romesh Gunesekera (Published by Granta Books)1994 - Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1994 - The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst (Published by Chatto & Windus)1994 - Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown (Published by John Murray)1994 - Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh (Published by Green Bay)

 1993

1993 Winner - Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (Published by Secker & Warburg)1993 - Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer (Published by Polygon)1993 - Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff (Published by Chatto & Windus)1993 - Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (Published by Chatto & Windus)1993 - Crossing the River by Caryl Phillips (Published by Bloomsbury)1993 - The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (Published by Fourth Estate)

 1992

  Two books shared the prize in 1992.

1992 Winner - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (Published by Bloomsbury)1992 Winner - Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1992 - Serenity House by Christopher Hope (Published by Macmillan)1992 - The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe (Published by Picador)1992 - Black Dogs by Ian McEwan (Published by Jonathan Cape)1992 - Daughters of the House by Michèle Roberts (Published by Virago)

 1991

1991 Winner - The Famished Road by Ben Okri (Published by Jonathan Cape)1991 - Time's Arrow by Martin Amis (Published by Jonathan Cape)1991 - The Van by Roddy Doyle (Published by Secker & Warburg)1991 - Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry (Published by Faber & Faber)1991 - The Redundancy of Courage by Timothy Mo (Published by Chatto & Windus)1991 - Reading Turgenev by William Trevor (Novella from the collection Two Lives, published by Viking)

 1990

1990 Winner - Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt (Published by Chatto & Windus)1990 - An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge (Published by Duckworth)1990 - The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald (Published by Collins)1990 - Amongst Women by John McGahern (Published by Faber & Faber)1990 - Lies of Silence by Brian Moore (Published by Bloomsbury)1990 - Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1989

1989 Winner - The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (Published by Faber & Faber)1989 - Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Published by Bloomsbury)1989 - The Book of Evidence by John Banville (Published by Secker & Warburg)1989 - Jigsaw by Sybille Bedford (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1989 - A Disaffection by James Kelman (Published by Secker & Warburg)1989 - Restoration by Rose Tremain (Published by Hamish Hamilton)

 1988

1988 Winner - Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Published by Faber & Faber)1988 - Utz by Bruce Chatwin (Published by Jonathan Cape)1988 - The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (Published by Collins)1988 - Nice Work by David Lodge (Published by Secker & Warburg)1988 - The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Published by Viking)1988 - The Lost Father by Marina Warner (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1987

1987 Winner - Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Published by Deutsch)1987 - Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe (Published by Heinemann)1987 - Chatterton by Peter Ackroyd (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1987 - Circles of Deceit by Nina Bawden (Published by Macmillan)1987 - The Colour of Blood by Brian Moore (Published by Jonathan Cape)1987 - The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1986

1986 Winner - The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis (Published by Hutchinson)1986 - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Published by Jonathan Cape)1986 - Gabriel's Lament by Paul Bailey (Published by Jonathan Cape)1986 - What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies (Published by Viking)1986 - An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (Published by Faber & Faber)1986 - An Insular Possession by Timothy Mo (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1985

1985 Winner - The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Published by Hodder & Stoughton)1985 - Illywhacker by Peter Carey (Published by Faber & Faber)1985 - The Battle of Pollocks Crossing by J. L. Carr (Published by Viking)1985 - The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing (Published by Jonathan Cape)1985 - Last Letters from Hav by Jan Morris (Published by Viking)1985 - The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1984

1984 Winner - Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (Published by Jonathan Cape)1984 - Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard (Published by Gollancz)1984 - Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes (Published by Jonathan Cape)1984 - In Custody by Anita Desai (Published by Heinemann)1984 - According to Mark by Penelope Lively (Published by Heinemann)1984 - Small World by David Lodge (Published by Secker & Warburg)

 1983

1983 Winner - Life & Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee (Published by Secker & Warburg)1983 - Rates of Exchange by Malcolm Bradbury (Published by Secker & Warburg)1983 - Flying to Nowhere by John Fuller (Published by Salamander)1983 - The Illusionist by Anita Mason (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1983 - Shame by Salman Rushdie (Published by Jonathan Cape)1983 - Waterland by Graham Swift (Published by Heinemann)

 1982

1982 Winner - Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (Published by Hodder & Staughton)1982 - Silence Among the Weapons by John Arden (Published by Methuen)1982 - An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1982 - Constance or Solitary Practices by Lawrence Durrell (Published by Faber & Faber)1982 - The 27th Kingdom by Alice Thomas Ellis (Published by Duckworth)1982 - Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo (Published by Deutsch)

 1981

  Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children', which scooped the prize in 1981, would go on to win the 'Booker of Bookers' in 2008, a prize for the best of all the previous winners to that point (occasion of the 40th anniversary). Seven books were shortlisted in 1981.

1981 Winner - Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Published by Jonathan Cape)1981 - Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (Published by Deutsch)1981 - The Sirian Experiments by Doris Lessing (Published by Jonathan Cape)1981 - The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan (Published by Jonathan Cape)1981 - Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee (Published by Macmillan)1981 - Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark (Published by Bodley Head)1981 - The White Hotel by D. M. Thomas (Published by Gollancz)

 1980

  Seven books were shortlisted in 1980.

1980 Winner - Rites of Passage by William Golding (Published by Faber & Faber)1980 - Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (Published by Hutchinson)1980 - Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai (Published by Heinemann)1980 - The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro (Published by Viking)1980 - No Country for Young Men by Julia O'Faolain (Published by Viking)1980 - Pascali's Island by Barry Unsworth (Published by Michael Joseph)1980 - A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (Published by Harvester)

 1979

1979 Winner - Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald (Published by Collins)1979 - Confederates by Thomas Keneally (Published by Collins)1979 - A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul (Published by Deutsch)1979 - Joseph by Julian Rathbone (Published by Michael Joseph)1979 - Praxis by Fay Weldon (Published by Hodder & Stoughton)

 1978

1978 Winner - The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Published by Chatto & Windus)1978 - Jake's Thing by Kingsley Amis (Published by Hutchinson)1978 - Rumours of Rain by André Brink (Published by W. H. Allen)1978 - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (Published by Duckworth)1978 - God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1978 - A Five-Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens (Published by W. H. Allen)

 1977

1977 Winner - Staying On by Paul Scott (Published by Heinemann)1977 - Peter Smart's Confessions by Paul Bailey (Published by Jonathan Cape)1977 - Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (Published by Duckworth)1977 - Shadows on our Skin by Jennifer Johnston (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1977 - The Road to Lichfield by Penelope Lively (Published by Heinemann)1977 - Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (Published by Macmillan)

 1976

1976 Winner - Saville by David Storey (Published by Jonathan Cape)1976 - An Instant in the Wind by André Brink (Published by W. H. Allen)1976 - Rising by R. C. Hutchinson (Published by Michael Joseph)1976 - The Doctor's Wife by Brian Moore (Published by Jonathan Cape)1976 - King Fisher Lives by Julian Rathbone (Published by Michael Joseph)1976 - The Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor (Published by Bodley Head)

 1975

  Booker Judges shortlisted only two books in 1975. 

1975 Winner - Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Published by John Murray)1975 - Gossip from the Forest by Thomas Keneally (Published by Collins)

 1974

  Two books shared the Booker Prize in 1974.

1974 Winner - The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (Published by Jonathan Cape)1974 Winner - Holiday by Stanley Middleton (Published by Hutchinson)1974 - Ending Up by Kingsley Amis (Published by Jonathan Cape)1974 - The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge (Published by Duckworth)1974 - In Their Wisdom by C. P. Snow (Published by Macmillan)

 1973

1973 Winner - The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell (Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson)1973 - The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge (Published by Duckworth)1973 - The Green Equinox by Elizabeth Mavor (Published by Michael Joseph)1973 - The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1972

1972 Winner - G. by John Berger (Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson)1972 - The Bird of Night by Susan Hill (Published by Hamish Hamilton)1972 - The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally (Published by Angus & Robertson)1972 - Pasmore by David Storey (Published by Longman)

 1971

1971 Winner - In a Free State by V. S. Naipaul (Published by Deutsch)1971 - The Big Chapel by Thomas Kilroy (Published by Faber & Faber)1971 - Briefing for a Descent into Hell by Doris Lessing (Published by Jonathan Cape)1971 - St Urbain's Horseman by Mordecai Richler (Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson)1971 - Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson (Published by Heinemann)1971 - Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (Published by Chatto & Windus)

 1970 - The 'Lost' Booker

  In 1970, The Booker Prize considered books published in the year of the prize - a break from the previous practice of selecting books from the year before.  As a year's worth of books were excluded by this move, and to rectify the record, the popularly voted 'Lost Booker' was awarded retrospectively in 2010.

1970 - 'Lost' Booker Winner - Troubles by J. G. Farrell (Published by Phoenix)1970 - Shortlisted 'Lost' Booker - The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden (Published by Virago)1970 - Shortlisted 'Lost' Booker - The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard (Published by Virago)1970 - Shortlisted 'Lost' Booker - Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (Published by Arrow)1970 - Shortlisted 'Lost' Booker - The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (Published by Penguin)1970 - Shortlisted 'Lost' Booker - The Vivisector by Patrick White (Published by Vintage)

 1970

1970 Winner - The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (Published by Eyre & Spottiswoode)1970 - John Brown's Body by A L Barker (Published by )1970 - Eva Trout by Elizabeth Bowen1970 - Bruno's Dream by Iris Murdoch1970 - Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel by William Trevor1970 - The Conjunction by Terence Wheeler

 1969

1969 Winner - Something to Answer For by P. H. Newby (Published by Faber & Faber)1969 - Figures in a Landscape by Barry England1969 - The Impossible Object by Nicholas Mosley1969 - The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch1969 - The Public Image by Muriel Spark1969 - From Scenes Like These by Gordon Williams

   

Tom KennyOur parents brought us up to believe that Irish literature is as good as anywhere else in the world and that our writers are among the best ambassadors this country has ever had.

When we look at the list of authors shortlisted for the Booker prize since its inception in 1969, we are particularly proud of those Irish writers who have won the prize outright, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, DBC Pierre and John Banville. But we also celebrate those who have made the shortlist down through the years, Elizabeth Bowen, William Trevor, Tom Kilroy, Brian Moore, Jennifer Johnston, Julia O’Faoláin, Molly Keane, John Arden, John McGahern, Pat McCabe, Bernard McLaverty, Seamus Deane, Colm Tóibín, Michael Collins, Brian O’Doherty and Sebastian Barry. We have been privileged to meet all of them and represent them by marketing and selling their work.

Other Booker short-listers who have come through our doors and whose photographs hang in our bookshop include Thomas Keneally, Nadine Gordimer, Beryl Bainbridge, Kingsley Amis, Fay Weldon, D.M. Thomas, J.M. Coetzee, Jan Morris, Margaret Attwood, Ben Okri, David Malouf and Julian Barnes. It has been an honour and a pleasure meeting these outstanding creators. They are some of the reasons why we welcome the Booker Prize every year and salute the remarkable work they have done in promoting literature at its finest.  

Once you start to make a list, you are leaving people out, so it was inevitable that the Booker would be controversial from the start. Hot favourites were excluded, inferior books included, the wrong person was the winner etc. etc. Everybody had an opinion. This only served to further publicise the books and the prize, but whatever the arguments, you have to admit in looking at the list of winners and those who made the shortlist over the years, they have all been helped in their careers by being associated with the Booker Prize. Long may it continue!

 TOM KENNY, 2017

Subscribe to our newsletter

News on special offers, signed editions & more!