Two American Authors Make Shortlist for 2015 Man Booker Prize

Posted on September 15, 2015

The shortlist for the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has been announced, and two Americans have made the cut. This is only the second year that the prize has been open to writers outside the United Kingdom. Previously the prize was only open to writers from the UK, the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe.

The Americans who made the short list for the prestigious literary prize are Anne Tyler (above, right) for A Spool of Blue Thread (Chatto & Windus) and Hanya Yanagihara (above, left) for A Little Life (Picador). The two UK authors who made the shortlist are British author Tom McCarthy for Satin Island (Jonathan Cape) and Sunjeev Sahota for The Year of the Runaways (Picador). Jamaican author Marlon James made the list for A Brief History of Seven Killings (Oneworld Publications) and Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma was chosen for The Fishermen (Pushkin Press).

The winner will be announced at a black tie dinner held on Tuesday October 13th in London's Guildhall. The ceremony will be broadcast by the BBC. The authors on the shortlist will each receive 2,500 pounds and a specially bound edition of their book. The winner of the 2015 prize will receive an additional 50,000 pounds which, at current exchange rates, is nearly $80,000. Chair of judges Michael Wood announced the shortlist at a press conference at the offices of Man Group, the sponsor of the prize. The other judges, pictured below, are Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, John Burnside, Sam Leith and Frances Osborne.

The judges presenting the #ManBooker2015 shortlist at today's press conference #FinestFiction pic.twitter.com/wFuj97oyQ6

— Man Booker Prize (@ManBookerPrize) September 15, 2015