Man Booker Prize, 2017

Man Booker Prize, 2017

  • On 17 October 2017, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders is named winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
  • He was presented with a trophy from HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and a £50,000 cheque by Luke Ellis, Chief Executive of Man Group.
  • Saunders also receives a designer bound edition of his book and a further £2,500 for being shortlisted.
  • Lincoln in the Bardo is the first full-length novel from George Saunders, internationally renowned short story writer.
  • The 58-year-old New York resident, born in Texas, is the second American author to win the prize in its 49-year history.
  • He was in contention for the prize with two British, one British-Pakistani and two American writers.

Lola, Baroness Young, 2017 Chair of judges, comments: ‘The form and style of this utterly original novel, reveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative. This tale of the haunting and haunted souls in the afterlife of Abraham Lincoln’s young son paradoxically creates a vivid and lively evocation of the characters that populate this other world. Lincoln in the Bardo is both rooted in, and plays with history, and explores the meaning and experience of empathy.’

  • Lincoln in the Bardo is published by Bloomsbury, making it the third consecutive year the prize has been won by an independent publisher, following Oneworld Publications’ success in 2015 with Marlon James and 2016 with Paul Beatty.
  • Bloomsbury has won the prize three times before, with Howard Jacobson (2010), Margaret Atwood (2000) and Michael Ondaatje (1992).
  • Saunders’ win comes in the month that 1989 Booker Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro was named as this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature recipient.
  • Man Group, an active investment management firm, has sponsored the prize since 2002.

Reference:
http://themanbookerprize.com/news/lincoln-bardo-wins-2017-man-booker-prize