Prominent authors Marlon James and Douglas Stuart are again contenders for the Booker Prize. Their works join a variety of genres including Dublin gang tales, dystopian narratives, and New England stories by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout.
The judging panel read 163 novels to select 13 semifinalists for the £50,000 ($66,000) prize. Mary Beard, a historian and head of the panel, described the list as literary ‘dynamite.’
The semifinalists include James’ novel The Disappearers, set in 1980s Jamaica, and Stuart’s John of John, which explores father-son secrets on a Scottish island. Strout’s The Things We Never Say captures heartfelt small-town life.
James previously won the Booker in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings. Stuart picked up the award in 2020 for Shuggie Bain. Strout was a finalist in 2022 with Oh William! and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for Olive Kitteridge.
The list also features lesser-known authors from Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey, and the U.S. Debut authors include Turkish-American Kenan Orhan with The Renovation, Rebecca Perry with May We Feed the King, and Ireland’s Djamel White with All Them Dogs.
Djamel White, at 28, is the youngest contender. The oldest is 81-year-old M. John Harrison, whose The End of Everything is a science fiction entry among the nominees.
Other works vying for the prize are Chloe Aridjis’ The Shadow of the Object, Luke Kennard’s Black Bag, Missouri Williams’ The Vivisectors, Emma Cline’s Switzy, Makenna Goodman’s Helen of Nowhere, and Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House.
According to Beard, the jurors aimed to select novels beyond the typical Booker expectations of being ‘slightly serious’ or ‘classics in the making.’ The chosen works expand ways of self-perception, employing humor, pathos, and sometimes shock.
Established in 1969, the Booker Prize catalyzes literary careers and welcomes novels published in the U.K. and Ireland from authors worldwide. Last year’s prize went to Hungarian-British author David Szalay for Flesh.
The judges will reveal six finalists on September 22, with the winner announced on November 9 in London.