The 2020 Booker Prize longlist has been announced and it includes an Irish author

By Edaein OConnell
28th Jul 2020

The 2020 Booker Prize longlist has been announced and it includes an Irish author

Thirteen novels are included on the longlist for the 2020 Booker Prize, with one Irish author in the running for the prestigious title

The longlist for this year’s prestigious Booker Prize has been announced.

Thirteen novels are included on the longlist which will be narrowed down to a shortlist of six on September 15. The prize winner will be announced in November and will receive £50,000 and international recognition.

Last year’s prize was won jointly by Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo.

This year’s finalists include Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & The Light – the third book in the author’s Cromwell trilogy. Mantel has previously won the prize twice for the first two novels in the series.

Irish author

Also appearing on this year’s list is Irish author Colum McCann for his book Apeirogon: A Novel. It tells the story of Rami Elhanan who is Israeli and Bassam Aramin who is Palestinian. The men live world’s apart but both have lost their daughters and soon a friendship is created.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, McCann said it was a “tremendous honour” to be nominated.

“It’s a fantastic list and the nice thing is that there are so many young writers. Given the fact that here we are right now in a political moment when there are all sorts of new voices, new stories being told, I think the list, whether consciously, unconsciously or subconsciously, sort of reflects the new political moment.”

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In a change to usual proceedings, eight of the 13 nominated books are debuts.

The longlist has been selected by the editor, literary critic, and former publisher Margaret Busby, authors Lee Child and Sameer Rahim, writer and broadcaster Lemn Sissay and classicist and translator Emily Wilson.

Busby, who is also chair of the judging panel, said of the longlist: “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 an individual faces in pre- and post-dystopian society… Some of the books focus on interpersonal relationships that are complex, nuanced, emotionally charged. There are voices from minorities often unheard, stories that are fresh, bold and absorbing.”