The long list for the Man Booker Prize has been announced. The Times of London presents the competitors:
Peter Carey for Theft: A Love Story (Faber & Faber). He has written nine novels,
including the Man Booker Prize-winning Oscar and Lucinda and The True History of
the Kelly Gang.
Kiran Desai for The Inheritance of Loss (Hamish Hamilton). The Indian-born
author wrote Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard.
Robert Edric for Gathering the Water (Doubleday). He was longlisted for the
Man Booker Prize in 2002 for Peacetime.
Nadine Gordimer for Get a Life (Bloomsbury). The South African received the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1991.
Kate Grenville for The Secret River (Canongate). She won the Orange Prize for
The Idea of Perfection.
M. J. Hyland for Carry Me Down (Canongate). The Londoner lives and works
in Melbourne.
Howard Jacobson for Kalooki Nights (Jonathan Cape). The novelist and
broadcaster lectured at the University of Sydney for three years
before returning to England where he taught English at Selwyn College.
James Lasdun for Seven Lies (Jonathan Cape). The Londoner lives
in New York and has published collections of poetry and short stories.
Mary Lawson for The Other Side of the Bridge (Chatto & Windus).
She was born and brought up in a farming community in Ontario
and now lives in England with her husband.
Jon McGregor for So Many Ways to Begin (Bloomsbury).
The Bermudan-born author who lives in Nottingham was the only first-time novelist
on the 2002 Man Booker longlist.
Hisham Matar for In the Country of Men (Viking). He
was born in New York and spent his childhood in Libya and Egypt. He has lived
in London since 1986.
Claire Messud for The Emperor's Children (Picador). Her first novel,
When the World was Steady, was shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award.
David Mitchell for Black Swan Green (Sceptre). He spent several years teaching
in Japan and now lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.
Naeem Murr for The Perfect Man (William Heinemann). His acclaimed first novel
The Boy was published in 1998.
Andrew O’Hagan for Be Near Me (Faber & Faber). He was nominated in 2003 by
Granta magazine as one of 20 Best of Young British Novelists.
James Robertson for The Testament of Gideon Mack (Hamish Hamilton). His first novel,
The Fanatic, was published in 2000.
Edward St Aubyn for Mother's Milk (Picador). His previous novels include
A Clue to the Exit.
Barry Unsworth for The Ruby in her Navel (Hamish Hamilton).
His Sacred Hunger won the Booker in 1992.
Sarah Waters for The Night Watch (Virago). Her first novel,
Tipping the Velvet, won the 1999 Betty Trask Award.
The list will be narrowed down to six entries on September 14th. The winner will recieve lovely check for £50,000 and those who made the shortlist will received a check for £2,500 on October 10th, 2006.
