Wednesday 4 September 2019

The Booker Prize Shortlist 2019

The shortlist has been announced for the 2019 Booker prize. The thirteen longlisted titles have been whittled down to six:

  • Margaret Atwood - The Testaments (Canada)
  • Lucy Ellmann - Ducks, Newburyport (USA/UK)
  • Bernardine Evaristo - Girl, Woman, Other (UK)
  • Chigozie Obioma - An Orchestra of Minorities (Nigeria)
  • Salman Rushdie - Quichotte (UK) 
  • Elif Shafak - 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World (Turkey)


I am delighted that Atwood made the list, and I am eagerly awaiting my pre-ordered copy of The Testaments which will arrive next week on publication day. Of the shortlisted titles, she is my pick for winner.

I had only read two of the longlisted titles - My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, and John Lanchester's The Wall - and was not surprised that they didn't make the cut. But I was disappointed that Max Porter's Lanny didn't survive. 

Here's what the Booker Prize judges had to say about the shortlist.


The Winner will be revealed on 14 October 2019.