Books
The 2020 Booker Prize Longlist Includes 8 Debut Novels
And celebrates diverse female writing, too.
It's that time of year again — the Booker Prize for Fiction 2020 longlist has been announced, and this diverse list of authors will be the perfect addition to your reading list. Featuring eight debut novels and compiled from 162 English-language novels published in the UK and Ireland, there are plenty of stories to dive into this summer.
Chaired by editor, literary critic, and former publisher Margaret Busby, the judging panel also includes author Lee Child; author and critic Sameer Rahim; writer and broadcaster Lemn Sissay; and classicist and translator Emily Wilson.
Baroness Nicholson was previously honorary Vice President of the panel but was removed in June following a series of transphobic tweets. Many writers criticised her comments as a "very public and powerful homophobia," and Munroe Bergdorf has also been asking for support to have Nicholson investigated by the House of Lords Official Commissioner for Standards.
The longlist, which will be cut down to a shortlist of six on Sep. 15, includes author Hilary Mantel who has previously won the prize twice, Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, Gabriel Krauze, Diane Cooke, and Sophie Ward. The winner, who will also receive £50,000, will be announced in November.
"Included are novels carried by the sweep of history with memorable characters brought to life and given visibility, novels that represent a moment of cultural change, or the pressures and individual face in pre- and post-dystopian society," Bushby said in a statement.
"Some of the books on interpersonal relationships that are complex, nuanced, emotionally charged," she continued. "There are voices from minorities often unheard, stories that are fresh, bold and absorbing."
Read the list in full below:
11. The New Wilderness by Dianne Cooke
A debut novel about a polluted metropolis released on Aug. 13.
22. This Mournable Boy by Tsitsi Dangarembga
The third novel of the 'Nervous Conditions' trilogy.
4Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze
A debut novel about London's youth released on Sep. 3.
5The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel
The third book of 'The Wolf Hall' trilogy.
7The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
A novel set in 1935 Ethiopia following a woman at war.
8Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
A novel about the dynamics of privilege in race and class.
9Real Life by Brandon Taylor
A debut novel following a student studying biochemistry released on Aug. 27. Buy here.
10Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Taylor
A story about second chances and human connection.
11Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
A novel set in 1981 Glasgow released on Aug. 6.
12Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward
A novel about the intricacies of love.
13How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
A debut novel set in the American West of the 19th-century.
The Booker shortlist – featuring just six of these titles – will be announced on Sept. 15.
