2011 Man Booker Longlist Introduces Four Debut Novelists

The 2011 Man Booker prize longlist was announced today. A surprising list to some, one that included four debut novelists among the 13 writers named.

Of the balance of the longlist, four have been longlisted before (and one of those went on to a shortlist, still another to a win). In addition to new novelists, this year’s lists includes three publishers new to the prize: Oneworld, Sandstone Press and Seren Books. And, significantly, of the 13 books given the nod, three are by Canadian authors.

The six author shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, September 6th at a press conference at Man Group's London headquarters. The winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced on Tuesday, October 18th at a dinner at London’s Guildhall that will be broadcast on the BBC.

The winner will receive £50,000 and each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, will receive £2,500 and a designer bound edition of their book.

A total of 138 books were considered for the 2011 Man Booker longlist. The semi-finalists are:

• The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape/Random House)
• On Canaan’s Side, Sebastian Barry (Faber)
• Jamrach’s Menagerie, Carol Birch (Canongate Books)
• The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt (Granta/Anansi)
• Half Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan (Serpent's Tail/Profile)
• A Cupboard Full of Coats, Yvvette Edwards (Oneworld)
• The Stranger’s Child, Alan Hollinghurst (Picador - Pan Macmillan)
• Pigeon English, Stephen Kelman (Bloomsbury)
• The Last Hundred Days, Patrick McGuinness (Seren Books)
• Snowdrops, A.D. Miller (Atlantic)
• Far to Go, Alison Pick (Headline Review)
• The Testament of Jessie Lamb, Jane Rogers (Sandstone Press)
• Derby Day, D.J. Taylor (Chatto & Windus/Random House)