Thousands of votes have been cast, and now fans of the six writers short-listed for the "Lost Booker" prize must wait to see which of them will win when the results are announced in London on Wednesday 19th May. This additional prize has been created to correct something that happened 40 years ago: due to a change in the rules – the period in which a novel had to have been published to receive a nomination for that year's prize was altered – many novels published in 1970 were left ineligible for the award.
Shortlist for the "Lost Booker" Prize
The one-off award was announced on March 25th at the Oxford Literary Festival, and with several well-known names on the short-list public interest has been high. The six novels in the running are:
- The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden (Virago)
- Troubles by J.G. Farrell (Phoenix House)
- The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard (Virago)
- Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (Arrow)
- The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (Penguin)
- The Vivisector by Patrick White (Vintage)
The short-list was drawn up from an original long-list of 21 by a panel of judges: Rachel Cooke, journalist and critic; ITN newsreader, Katie Derham; and novelist, Tobias Hill. However, unlike the annual Man Booker Prize, the eventual winner has been decided by the public - thousands of votes have been cast online, so the book that wins will have the honour of receiving both critical and popular acclaim.
Favourite for the "Lost Booker" Prize
According to the bookmakers, Muriel Spark is the favourite to win the prize. She has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize twice before, The Public Image failing to win in 1969 and Loitering with Intent missing the prize in 1981. Her closest rival is thought to be J.G. Farrell, who won the award in 1973 with The Siege of Krishnapur.
Both novelists are now dead, as are Mary Renault and Patrick White, but no doubt their respective publishers are hoping for the boost in sales that a Booker win often brings: 2009 winner Hilary Mantel topped the mass market fiction best-seller list when Wolf Hall was released in paperback earlier this year.
Voting is now closed, but the level of interest shown suggests that people are more interested in reading and appreciating fiction than ever before. At the very least the quality of the novels on the original long-list may well encourage readers to investigate further a period of literature that is often overlooked, discovering a wealth of talent in the process.
Elizabeth Gregory - Liz graduated from Manchester University with a BA (Hons) in English Language & Literature, and also holds an MA in Literature from the ...
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