National Book Awards wise up

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:40:00 +0000

In a bid to "broaden the reach and impact" of the National Book Awards, its annual prize, the National Book Foundation has announced two key changes to its selection process. These alterations appear to be following the example of Britain's Man Booker Prize, a contest that many regard as more influential in the U.S. than its homegrown counterpart.

The NBAs are awarded in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature. In the past, panels of judges in each category selected a short list of five titles, announcing the candidates in the early fall. The winners of each prize are then announced at a gala banquet and ceremony in November.

On Tuesday, the foundation issued a press release stating that from now on "a 'Long-List' of ten titles in each of the four genres, to be published five weeks before the Finalists Announcement." More significantly, it also announced that the judging panels "will no longer be limited to writers, but now may also include other experts in the field including literary critics, librarians and booksellers." The Booker Prize likewise features both a long and a short list, and its judges are drawn from various walks of literary life, including the occasional import from other media, such as Dan Stevens (who plays Matthew Crawley on "Downton Abbey"), a judge in 2012.

Hilary Mantel wins second Man Booker Prize

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:15:00 +0000

Hilary Mantel won her second Man Booker Prize for "Bring Up the Bodies," the second novel of a planned trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, a minister to King Henry VIII. The previous novel, "Wolf Hall," also won the Man Booker.

The prize, worth approximately $80,000, goes to the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. Mantel became the first woman to win the prize twice.

Watch a video of a May interview the author gave to the BBC:

Earlier this month the New Yorker published a profile of the author, "The Dead Are Real."

Salon.com > Man Booker Prize

National Book Awards wise up

Hilary Mantel wins second Man Booker Prize