The 2024
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
is a
literary award
A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations
Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...
worth £50,000 given for the best English-language novel published between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024 in either the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner,
Samantha Harvey for her sci-fi novel ''
Orbital'', was announced on 12 November 2024 at
Old Billingsgate in London.
Of the thirteen authors on the 2024 longlist, announced on 30 July 2024, three (
Colin Barrett,
Rita Bullwinkel,
Yael van der Wouden
Yael van der Wouden (born 1987) is a Dutch writer. Her first novel, ''The Safekeep'', was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.
Early life and education
Yael van der Wouden was born in 1987 in Tel Aviv, Israel, to an Israeli mother and a Dutc ...
) were debut novelists and six (
Percival Everett
Percival Leonard Everett II (born December 22, 1956) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Distinguished professor, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He has described himself as "pathologicall ...
,
Samantha Harvey,
Rachel Kushner,
Hisham Matar,
Claire Messud
Claire Messud (born October 8, 1966) is an American/Canadian/French novelist and literature and creative writing professor. She is best known as the author of the novel '' The Emperor's Children'' (2006).
Early life
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut ...
,
Richard Powers
Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel ''The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.[Edmund de Waal
Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is an English contemporary artist, Pottery, potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or ...]
stated that the works varied widely in their style and mood, however he stated the works had a common feature exploring the precarious lives of their characters. He stated: "The precarity of lives runs through our longlist like quicksilver."
The shortlist of six finalists was announced on 16 September 2024, with five of the six books being by female authors, the highest number of women shortlisted in the 55-year history of the prize.
Harvey had previously been nominated for a Booker Prize when her 2009 debut novel ''
The Wilderness'' was longlisted for the award.
At 136 pages, ''Orbital'' was the second shortest novel to be awarded a Booker Prize (with the shortest novel being
Penelope Fitzgerald
Penelope Mary Fitzgerald (17 December 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist and biographer from Lincoln, England. In 2008 ''The Times'' listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". ''The Ob ...
's 1979 winning work
''Offshore'').
''Orbital'' was the first novel set in space to win the Booker Prize.
Edmund de Waal stated regarding Harvey: "With her language of lyricism and acuity Harvey makes our world strange and new for us." de Waal also stated that the novel showed the beauty of the world we all share as well as its fragility.
During her acceptance speech, Harvey dedicated her award to those who "speak for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life, and all the people who speak for, and call for, and work for peace".
Judging panel
*
Edmund de Waal
Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is an English contemporary artist, Pottery, potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or ...
(chair)
*
Sara Collins
*Justine Jordan
*
Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other ...
*
Yiyun Li
Yiyun Li (Chinese: 李翊雲 - ''Li Yiyun'') (born November 4, 1972) is a Chinese-born writer and professor who has lived and worked in the United States since entering graduate school. She writes exclusively in English. Her short stories and no ...
Nominees
All 2024 nominees are novels.
See also
*
List of winners and nominated authors of the Booker Prize
References
{{Booker Prize
Booker
Booker Prizes by year
2024 awards in the United Kingdom