The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is one of most respected literary awards in the industry. Each year a “Booker Dozen” list of 13 titles are selected for the longlist, before a shortlist is chosen later in the year and then finally a winner.

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Last year, Margret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo won the award jointly. Atwood for her The Handmaid’s Tale sequel, The Testaments and Evaristo for Girl, Woman, Other.

In July, the Booker Prize Longlist 2020 was announced and included historical fiction writer Dame Hilary Mantel alongside 12 other names, who previously won the Booker Prize twice, for Wolf Hall in 2009 and Bring Up the Bodies in 2012.

This year, the judges selected from 162 titles which were written in English and published in the UK or Ireland (the authors may be any nationality). The judging panel was chaired by Margaret Busby and consisted of Lee Child, Sameer Rahim, Lemn Sissay and Emily Wilson.

Booker Prize 2019 winners
Margret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo receiving their joint award for The Booker Prize 2019. Getty

The Booker Prize Shortlist 2020 has now been released and the announcement was made on the official social media account for the award:

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Just six authors and their works are featured on the shortlist, as listed below. The final winner is due to be revealed on 17 November.

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The Booker Prize Shortlist 2020

  • The New Wilderness - Diane Cook
  • This Mournable Body - Tsitsi Dangarembga
  • Burnt Sugar - Avni Doshi
  • The Shadow King - Maaza Mengiste
  • Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart
  • Real Life - Brandon Taylor
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