Man Booker International Prize: The Finalists, The Drama

Here they are: the finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for "achievement in fiction" -- that is, not achievement for a single book, but "it highlights one writer's overall contribution to fiction on the world stage."

• Wang Anyi
  
• Juan Goytisolo
  
• James Kelman
  
• John le Carré
  
• Amin Maalouf
  
• David Malouf
  
• Dacia Maraini
  
• Rohinton Mistry
  
• Philip Pullman
  
• Marilynne Robinson
  
• Philip Roth
  
• Su Tong
  
• Anne Tyler

Ah, but John le Carré has swiftly withdrawn from the competition. According to a statement released by his literary agency:

I am enormously flattered to be named as a finalist of 2011 Man Booker International Prize. However I do not compete for literary prizes and have therefore asked for my name to be withdrawn.

Says Rick Gekoski, chair of the judges panel:

John le Carré's name will, of course, remain on the list. We are disappointed that he wants to withdraw from further consideration because we are great admirers of his work.

Done and dusted. And really quite amazing. The whole process seems neatly handled, despite headlines screaming about le Carré "igniting controversy" for the prize. I take the author at his word, and don't see any particular damnation of the Man Booker International Prize. Let's move on.

It is a rather fascinating set of finalists, by the way, even setting aside the spy novels of le Carré. I mean, Philip Pullman! Anne Tyler! There is a notable loosening of genre snobbery here, as the work of the science fiction great and the bestselling author of novels located in the Midwest reveals. And then to put them up next to heavyweights like Philip Roth and Marilynne Robinson and Rohinton Mistry -- well, hell. I'm extremely interested to see how this plays out.

As The Literary Saloon points out, despite the award's openness to books translated into English, almost all (seven) the finalists are English originals. Eight of the thirteen are from Europe or the U.S; three finalists each are from the U.K and the U.S., and two are from China. This is actually the first shortlist to have China represented. All three (initially) nominated Americans are winners of the Pulitzer Prize. In all, eight countries are represented. Four of the thirteen finalists are women.

Awarded every two years and worth £6O,OOO, any writer whose work is available in English is eligible (ah, again we see the urgency of translating more of the world's contemporary literature into English). The past winners of the Booker International prize are Albanian novelist and poet Ismail Kadaré, Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, and Canadian writer Alice Munro. This year's winner will be announced at the Sydney Writers' Festival on May 18 and the winner will be celebrated at a ceremony in London on June 28.

Comments

[Stefania]

I predict Philip Roth as a winner, but as an Italian I go for Dacia Maraini (although I should be ashamed that I've never read her).

[Anna Clark]

I think your prediction may be spot on. I'd put Rohinton Mistry as the dark horse candidate...

[Stefania]

It's amazing that there are two Malouf (although spelled differently) in the list.

I haven't read Mistry. What a shame!

[Anna Clark]

Ha! Somehow I skimmed over the Malouf/Maalouf bit.