International Booker Prize Finalists Announced

The finalists for the 2007 Booker International Prize have just been announced.

The shortlist of 15 writers includes some very well known authors and some up until now, lesser-known authors. Two of the biggest names on the list are Salman Rushdie and Philip Roth.

The announcement of the finalists for the Man Booker International Prize came at a Toronto press conference yesterday. The list includes authors from around the world.

When speaking about the shortlist the judges of the International Booker Prize said, "We offer a gift to readers all over the world, an opportunity to join a conversation on 15 writers, diverse in nationality, language, themes and techniques but united in their dedication to the power of the word."

The International Book Prize differs from the yearly Booker Prize. The Booker Prize is awarded each year to an author for creating outstanding literature. To be considered for a Booker prize an author must from Ireland, the UK or a commonwealth country. The International Booker Prize is only awarded every two years and the prize is awarded based on all of an authors books. The prize for the International Booker Prize is $120,000 dollars.

To be considered for the International Booker Prize authors must have had their works translated to English, written in English or published in England. The finalists come from around the world.

The 15 finalists for the 2007 International Booker Prize are: Margaret Atwood, Alice Monroe and Michael Ondaatje from Canada; Philip Roth and Don DeLillo from America; Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie from the UK; Chinua Achebe from Nigeria; John Banville from Ireland; Harry Mulisch from the Netherlands; Peter Carey from Australia; Amos Oz from Israel; Carlos Fuentes from Mexico and Michel Tournier from France.

One of the judges for the International Booker Prize is Nadine Gordimer. Gordimer is from South Africa and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. When Gordimer spoke about the judging process she said, "We can't emphasize enough that we were not concerned with the aspect of the prize going to a particular nation or nationality at all and it's purely coincidental that there are these three Canadian writers."

Having three authors from Canada in the finalist list is quite an achievement for Canadian literature. Author and judge Colm Toibin from Ireland talked about how Canada achieved so many nominations, "the distinctive nature of what they did" stood out to the judges.

2007 will be the second time that the International Booker Prize is awarded. The first award was handed out in 2005 to Ismail Kadare.

The winner will be announced at a London ceremony in June.

Sources
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007037095
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=485047&catname=Local%20News&classif=
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL1359604420070413